MANABU TAKASAWA

Department of Music ▪ University of Rhode Island ▪ Kingston, RI 02881

Phone: 401-874-2790 ▪ E-mail: takasawa@uri.edu

Praised for his “sensitive touch” by The Washington Post and for his “beautiful sound with an abundant sense of fantasy” by Musica Nova magazine (Japan) pianist Manabu Takasawa made a solo recital debut at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1992. In July 2003 he also gave a Tokyo debut recital to a sold-out audience. He has received the Homer Ulrich Performance Award, the first prize at the Elizabeth R. Davis Memorial Competition, and was selected as a finalist in the Mu Phi Epsilon International Competition.

Born in Niigata, Japan, Mr. Takasawa came to the United States to further his musical training. He studied with José Ariel Rambaldi at Whitman College in Washington State and with Constance Keene at Manhattan School of Music. While in New York, he was invited by the late Artur Balsam, a renowned pianist and chamber musician, to participate in the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in Maine. Mr. Takasawa also tutored with Thomas Schumacher at the University of Maryland. He has performed in master classes given by Stewart Gordon, Menahem Pressler and Vladimir Feltsman. His doctoral dissertation focused on the American musician and educator, Abram Chasins. An article on Chasins has recently been published in the Clavier magazine.

During the summer of 2001 and 2002, Mr. Takasawa performed in Hamamatsu, Japan with John Graham, Professor of Viola at the Eastman School of Music. He was a coach and staff pianist for the 2005 Heifetz International Music Institute. In addition, he has appeared as a guest soloist with various orchestras in the Northeast region, Mid-Columbia Symphony and the Walla Walla Symphony both in Washington State, the Maryland Youth Symphony, and the Winter Sun Music Festival Orchestra in Florida. His performances and interviews have been broadcast on WSCL-FM89.5 and WBOC-Channel 16 in Maryland. Most recently his concert activity was aired on Mercury Radio (Poznán, Poland) and televised on a News 5 evening news broadcast in Belize.

Mr. Takasawa has taught at Howard Community College, Whitman College, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. He is currently Associate Professor of Music and Co-Director of the Graduate Studies at the University of Rhode Island. His interest in communicating with students through music has taken him to performances in regional elementary and secondary schools as well as schools as far as Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam. He also served as President of the Rhode Island Music Teachers Association from 2004 to 2006.