Accentrio
Katsuya Yuasa
Yamaha Young Performing Clarinet Artist Katsuya Yuasa, from Kobe, Japan, moved to
US and made his solo debut at age 12 at the Center for the Performing Arts in San Jose,
California. From a young age, music became his voice and dream. He studied with Tom
Serpa, Fred Rast, Roman Fukshansky, and completed his BM in Clarinet Performance
while serving as principal clarinet in both Wind Symphony and Orchestra for four years at
San Jose State University (SJSU, 2013) under the guidance of Dr. Janet M. Averett.
Everything began in California. Some of his achievements in the state are the San Diego
Heritage Music Festival Maestro and Director's Award (2009), SJSU Concerto Competition
winner to be the featured soloist performing Luigi Bassi's arrangement of “Rigoletto” by
Giuseppe Verdi (2012), and his first inspiration in new music was when he performed as the
guest artist for the world premiere of Clarinet Concerto with SJSU Wind Ensemble, “A
Candle in the Dark” by Jason McChristian (2013). Simply by pursuing music, as its
surrounding community had become something like a second home, Mr. Yuasa was ready
to expand his horizon and had the opportunity to also tour across South America with
San Jose Youth Symphony. He now resides in Boston, MA and contributes in various
outreach events through the Conservatory Connections Performance Program.
In the recent years, Mr. Yuasa has worked with artists such as Carol McGonnell, Robert
Spring, Eddie Daniels, Alan R. Kay, Michael Webster, Guy Yehuda, Elsa Ludewig Verdehr,
Ayako Oshima, Charles Neidich, and Richard Stoltzman, among others. In May 2014, he
performed with Boston Conservatory (BoCo) Wind Ensemble as a featured soloist in
“Paganini in Metropolis” by Frank Proto, who quoted: “I wonder what Mr. Yuasa will be
sounding like in a few years if he continues on his current upward trajectory.”
Just this Spring 2015, he has already been featured on Boston Symphony Hall, recorded to
complete the WCRB - WGBH's sonic logo inside the Fraser Performance Studio, and
is being frequently requested to take part with the Boston Symphony Association of
Volunteers to serve for the New England community's music education programs. He also
encountered Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra Instrumental Competition as a
finalist (New London, CT), and the same day he collaborated to perform with International
Contemporary Ensemble for world premiere concerts (Boston, MA). He was awarded the
Honorable Mentions for Brookline Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition (Boston, MA),
Philharmonic Society of Arlington (Arlington, MA), won Grand Prize and 1st Place for
Rio Hondo Symphony’s 47th Annual Young Artists Competition (Whittier, CA), and is looking forward to perform Claude Debussy’s “Première
Rhapsodie” for regional artist debut in the Fall season. He also won 3rd Prize and Performance Award from White Lake Solo Competition (Muskegon, MI), won 1st Place and Grand Prize at Clarinet Colloquium's 2015 Young Artist Competition (Dallas, TX), and will be a clarinet teaching assistant at the Summer in the City Music Camp (San Jose, CA) and New York Summer Music Festival (Oneonta, NY) this summer.
Mr. Yuasa became a Yamaha Young Performing Artist in 2014, and finished MM in May 2015 at BoCo where he studied with Michael Norsworthy. It was recently officially announced that he was accepted into the prestigious Artist Diploma program with full scholarships in BoCo. In the upcoming years, he will not only embody as the Conservatory’s music ambassador, but also have the opportunity to continually concertize extensively as a soloist, chamber musician and contemporary artist.
For more information, please visit www.katsuyayuasa.wix.com/clarinet
