Praised for “process[ing] an exacting facility at the keyboard, playing with a vibrancy not often
heard” (Rochester CITY Newspaper), Yoshiko Arahata enjoys a versatile musical career as a pianist,
educator, improvisor, and composer. With a practice grounded in solo and collaboration, her work
integrates contemporary and world music, dancers, and visual artists. Her recent engagements
include a solo piano performance at Carnegie Hall, a performance-teaching residency with musicians
and dancers in Guatemala, the prestigious Gilmore International Piano Festival fellowship, and her
composition and music production for Odyssea (2023), a 30-minute dance-on-film in collaboration
with QuickSilver Dance Company that is featured at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland.
Top prize winner of national and international competitions including Los Angeles International
Liszt Competition and American Virtuosi International Music Competition, Arahata has performed
at renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall (New York), Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (Los Angeles),
Zipper Hall (Los Angeles), Preston Bradley Hall (Chicago), and across the United States, France,
Spain, Italy, Greece, Japan, Hong Kong, and Guatemala. She has appeared frequently on k-Mozart
105.1 FM and WXXI Classical 91.5 FM. Her concerto appearances span from traditional works by
Bach and Beethoven to contemporary ensembles with featured piano parts by Wolfgang Rihm,
György Ligeti, Steve Reich, and Aaron Jay Kernis.
A sought-after collaborative and chamber musician, Arahata has performed with numerous
instrumentalists and vocalists, including renowned violinist Charles Castleman and Robin Scott,
principal musicians from Toronto, Pittsburgh, and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestras, flutist Adam
Sadberry (Concert Artist Guild), mezzo-soprano Jessica Ann Best, percussionist Joshua Graham
(Marimba One), faculty at Eastman School of Music and Indiana University Bloomington,
Ensemble-in-Residence in Texas as the founding member of Elgin Trio, and artists at the Garth
Newel Chamber Music Festival.
Arahata actively performs and premieres music by contemporary composers and artists who have
been historically marginalized in Western classical music space. In addition, she regularly improvises
and composes in a variety of styles and mediums, including frequent collaborations with dancers.
Furthermore, she has presented her research at the International Society for Improvised Music
Conference, NYSMTA/MTNA Symposium, Frances Clark Center Piano Inspires Webinar Series,
Conero Piano Pedagogy Conference, and KU Asian Classical Music Initiatives Conference.
Currently, Arahata is College Track Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano at New Mexico State
University, where she develops a new graduate piano curriculum as well as teaches music theory that
integrates functional piano and composition. She also launched and teaches a summer course “The
Pianist’s Guide to Dance Accompaniment” that fosters keyboard versatility at Eastman School of
Music. Arahata serves on the Creative Music Making committee of the National Conference of
Keyboard and is an active master class teacher and competition adjudicator. She has held diverse
teaching, coaching, and ensemble directing positions at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music,
Nazareth College, SUNY Geneseo, Alfred University, Hochstein School of Music, Blue Lake Fine
Arts Camp, and Eastman School of Music, where she maintained a full studio for both collegiate
and community divisions and received the prestigious Excellence in Teaching Assistant Award.
Arahata holds degrees in Piano Performance at Eastman School of Music (B.M., D.M.A.) and
Northwestern University (M.M.), where she studied with Barry Snyder, Alan Chow, Enrico Elisi,
and Dariusz Terefenko. She also holds a degree in Brian and Cognitive Sciences at University of
Rochester. Her multicultural upbringing fostered her love of traveling, photography, and painting.