Classical music and sports intersect through composers who were athletes or were inspired by sports in their compositions. Piano music has a...

  Late May and early June are the traditional times for graduation ceremonies. When Tomoko taught at San Domenico School, the girls graduate...

  As spring arrives, here we get to celebrate ten major piano composers born in March. Frédéric Chopin (March 1, 1810): Known almost exclu...

One of Tomoko’s CD piano albums features Baroque pieces. While the modern piano) was not invented until the very end of the Baroque era, the...

 Tomoko is known for both her piano performance and her piano teaching ability. Those same skills and careers apply to several outstanding c...

 Happy June birthday to the following classical composers of piano music who were born in June! Tomoko has played the pieces of several of t...

It's April Fools' Day.: a day of (hopefully harmless) pranks. Musicians and composers have been known to play pranks on the piano. P...

When Tomoko was in college, she played the organ for Catholic masses. Easter is the most important event in Catholicism, and music has been ...

What better way to bring in the new year than with music? And piano music offers a way for an individual to kinesthetically set the tone for...

 At Halloween time, classical piano music may be very spirited – as in eerie. Here is a sampling, which may have surprising popular culture...

  The phrase “the dog days of summer” has a surprising meaning; it refers to the dog star Sirius that appears at that time of the year just ...

 In the play "Twelfth Night," Shakespeare wrote: "If music be the food of love, play on." In reality, food can inspire c...

  In the US, June has been the traditional month for weddings. Music is also a traditional part of weddings, and piano piece figure largely....

Tomoko enjoys films, and appreciates the music that is incorporated into them.  One specialized type of film is animated films, which starte...

  Tomoko has a lifetime love of driving. She bought her first car when she was studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and she ...