Conductor & Accompanist

Mariko Kanamitsu has been the Music Director and Conductor of the Japanese Chorus Kaguya since 2011. She has performed solo recitals with various instrumentalists throughout San Diego. Some notable performances have been at area colleges and libraries including Central Library and the Rancho Bernardo Library. Previously, she spent over 15 years in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area where she performed numerous solo recitals and oratorios as a soloist. In Washington D.C. she pursued her voice studies with Professor Linda Mabbs of the University of Maryland. In Tokyo she was on the faculty of music education at Musashino Music College. She has a B.A. in Voice and a M.A. in Music Education from Musashino Music College. A dedicated teacher, Mariko runs her own piano and vocal studio.

Kiyomi Johnson has been the pianist of the Japanese Chorus Kaguya since 2012. She started piano lessons at three years old. She found her passion in piano and by eleven, she decided to become a professional pianist. Her teachers include Chie Okabayashi, professor at the Toho Gakuen School of Music, Jun Date, Professor Emeritus of Tokyo University of Art, and Shizuko Sou, the world famous concert pianist. Overcoming an injury that cut short her dream of becoming a professional pianist, Kiyomi became a piano teacher at the YAMAHA Music School in Japan. She now works full time and composes piano music in her spare time.