Welcome
"Needless to say,
Takayama was
brilliant.
Absolutely
briliant."
~The Virginia Gazette
Biography
Akemi Takayama appears internationally as a soloist and chamber music collaborator. As violinist for the Audubon Quartet she tours regularly. Her recordings with the quartet include four CDs, all available on the Centaur and Composers Recordings labels. She serves as associate professor at the Shenandoah University Conservatory of Music and concertmaster of both the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and the Williamsburg Symphonia in Virginia.
Born to musical parents in Tokyo, Japan, Takayama began her violin studies with her mother at the age of three. She has performed throughout Japan, France, and the U.S., including appearances with the Shinsei-Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Toho School of Music Orchestra, and on a “FM Recital” broadcast throughout Japan on NHK Radio. She also has performed with the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, the Yomiuri Philharmonic Orchestra, Music at Gretna, and with the New World Symphony Orchestra.
Akemi Takayama received first prize in both the Northwest Regional Music Teacher National Association and the Grand Junction Young Artist competitions. She has performed at and served on the faculties of the Chautauqua Institute in New York, the Idyllwild School of the Arts in California, the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina, the "Shenandoah Performs Festival" in Virginia, and at Virginia Tech. She earned both an Artist Diploma and a Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, serving as assistant to Donald Weilerstein. Previously, she studied with Toshiya Eto and Ryosaku Kubota at the Toho School of Music in Tokyo, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in music performance, and a professional studies degree from the University of Wyoming where she studied with Brian Hanly. Ms. Takayama won positions in the Marlboro Music Festival and the Isaac Stern Music Workshop. Ms. Takayama plays an 1805 J.B. Ceruti violin from Cremona, Italy.