Umi Garrett
Sunday
October 26, 2014
3:00 p.m.
“She is going to be well known”
- Ellen DeGeneras
NEWS: Find out about the Umi's Student Meet & Greet!
In May 2009, 8-year-old piano prodigy Umi Garrett appeared on NBC's The Ellen DeGenere show. It was such a sensation that her young career has since skyrocketed, receiving requests to perform worldwide and appearing regularly with symphony orchestras in the US and around the world.
Now at the age 12, Umi's most recent accomplishments include winning first prizes at the 13th Osaka International Music Competition in Japan in October, The Chopin International Competition in Budapest, Hungary in June, and Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition in New York earlier in the same year.
Her performances thrilled the audiences with brilliant playing and charm, earning enthusiastic standing ovations and establishing Umi as a definitive rising star in classical music. Outside of the United States, the young pianist has thrilled classical patrons in theatres from Panama to the Netherlands and beyond. Umi made her debut on the Asian continent with the Wuhan Symphony Orchestra in 2010 and in 2012 performed with Liepaja Symphony Orchestra in Latvia as her European Orchestral debut.
“ The power of her tiny hands on the keys was mesmerizing. "Genius" seems the best description. ”
-–Bill Clark (Columbia Daily Tribune)
Umi has performed solo concerts in Italy, Poland, Germany, Latvia, Luxembourg, Australia, Japan and Panama. She captivated European audiences in 2009 in several concerts at the Vianden Music Festival in Luxembourg and in Germany with selected solo and chamber music works.
At home Umi has performed with a diverse set of orchestras including Charlotte Symphony in Florida, Thayer Symphony in Massachusetts, Desert Symphony in California, Indiana Chamber Orchestra in Indianapolis, and the Missouri Symphony in Columbia. Umi has been invited to perform for the Kyoto Symposium; a memorial concert of Marvin Hamlisch with the Pasadena Symphony and Pops; the master class with Lang Lang; the annual meeting of Philharmonic Society of Orange County and a VIP event of "From the Top" at Joshua Bell's house in New York.
Currently Umi is studying with John Perry at the Colburn School of Music. She resides in Southern California, and speaks both English and Japanese fluently. Besides playing piano, she enjoys playing with her friends, drawing, going to the art museums and traveling throughout Europe
