A native of Osaka, Japan, pianist Emi Kagawa is known as a soloist and chamber musician, and has performed extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Italy, and Japan. The Salt Lake Tribune described her performance as “a picture in the form of a 1000 piece puzzle, with each piece being a master piece.” The New York Sun called her “… an artist both interesting and bold who quite literally throws herself into her performance creating truly exciting music.”

Dr. Kagawa has performed in New York City at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Trinity Church, Steinway Hall, and Symphony Space. She is a past winner of the Juilliard School of Music’s Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition. She was a featured performer on the McGraw-Hill Companies’ Young Artists Showcase series broadcast on The New York Times’ classical music station WQXR, and has also performed on central Pennsylvania’s PBS member station WITF. Dr. Kagawa was recently appointed principal keyboard of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra.

As a co-director of MANI Brooklyn Chamber Music, Dr. Kagawa has participated in several world premieres of compositions by contemporary composers. Highly sought after for her innovative approach as an artist, she has collaborated in numerous productions with a variety of contemporary visual artists, filmmakers, and dancers. She has also appeared as collaborative pianist for master classes with Joseph Silverstein, Peter Wiley, Steve Tenenbaum, and David Geber.

A dedicated educator, Dr. Kagawa has served on the faculties of New York University, New York Youth Symphony Chamber Music Program, the Perlman Music Program, the Great Neck Conservatory, the Piano School of NYC, the New York Summer Festival, and the Belvoir Arts Camp. She is currently on the piano faculties of St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA and Bryan College, Dayton, TN.