ANAHEIM (PRWeb) — Yamaha Music Education System will present its captivating Junior Original Concert (JOC) on Thursday, Jan. 23, at the 2014 NAMM Show.
The free performance will begin at 1 p.m. in the Keyboard Division area at the Yamaha Exhibit, located in Marquis Ballroom, Anaheim Marriott Hotel, 700 W. Convention Way. All NAMM attendees are invited to enjoy the event, which features three talented Yamaha Music School students performing their original compositions.
Kylie Smith, age 9, a student at East Valley Yamaha Music School in Chandler, Ariz., will perform her programmatic solo piano composition “Adventures Underwater,” consisting of three movements, “I: A Sea Otter’s Band,” “II: A Dolphin Dance” and “III: A Flying Fish Flight.”
Pianist Megan Chang, age 12, who studies at Torrance Yamaha Music Center, will perform her spicy Latin piece “Flashback in Rio.” Supporting musicians include Nicole Salladin (a student at Harmony Music World in Fullerton) and Jolene Okamoto (a student at Irvine Yamaha Music Center), who both play Yamaha Tyros5 digital keyboards, Hazael Sanchez on electric bass, Bruce Carver on percussion and Yamaha drum artist M.B. Gordy.
Valerie Narumi, age 14, a student at Harmony Music World in Fullerton, will perform her impressionistic “Voices of the Wind” for solo piano.
Yamaha Music Education System is operated in music schools and musical instrument dealers in 40 countries worldwide. In the U.S., more than 60 schools located throughout the country are authorized to teach the Yamaha Method. Since its inception in 1954, more than 5 million students have graduated from the program and many of them have become professional musicians. Currently, almost 700,000 students are enrolled worldwide.
The Yamaha Music Foundation in Tokyo produces, publishes and distributes materials throughout the world. As a result of this pedagogically sound, comprehensive approach developed by Yamaha, students can develop a high level of ability not only as performers, but also as improvisers and composers.
Junior Original Concerts, such as the one at Winter NAMM, give talented Yamaha students the chance to perform their original compositions and improvisations for an audience. The concerts take place annually in cities around the world, including Boston, Los Angeles, Milan, New York City, Paris, Tokyo, Vienna and Washington, D. C. Venues have included such prestigious halls as John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Weiner Konzerthaus, Salle Gaveau and Carnegie Hall.
For more information about Yamaha Music Education System, visit the Yamaha Booth at the 2014 NAMM Show in the Anaheim Marriott Hotel, Marquis Ballroom, running Jan. 23-26, or visit http://4wrd.it/yamahamusicschools.
About Valerie Narumi
Valerie is an accomplished young pianist, composer, and philanthropist from Yorba Linda. A 9th-grade pre-IB/tech high school student at Valencia High School in Placentia, she graduated from the Yamaha Junior Advanced Course, studied composition with Carlton Liu at Harmony Music World, and currently studies with Dr. Ron Anderson.
Since 2005, she has composed and performed original solo and ensemble works at nine Yamaha Junior Original Concerts and at two NAMM shows in Anaheim.
For her piano solo composition, she was inspired by the beautiful scenes of an animated film and the powerful music that made the experience very memorable. In a similar fashion, she wanted to create a musical piece filled with imagery like many composers created during the Impressionistic Period.
“Voices of the Wind” is about a young girl who starts off her day quietly and then experiences a very windy day. After a playful day, the whimsical wind finally rests and quietly blows a light breeze that makes the young girl drifts off into a peaceful sleep.
Valerie performed “Voices of the Wind” at the 2013 Yamaha Eastern Canada Junior Original Concert at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, Canada and at the 2013 Yamaha U.S. Western Regional Junior Original Concert at Tempe Center for the Arts Theater in Tempe, Ariz.
Valerie volunteers her music talents throughout her community and has organized her own charity recitals, fundraising over $5,000. She has been honored twice with the President’s Volunteer Service Award, Gold Level from President Obama for her outstanding community service. Valerie aspires to become a professional composer, pianist, and medical doctor, helping less fortunate children around the world with her charitable work and music.