JUNKO UENO GARRETT has captivated audiences around the world with her colorful tone, poetry, expressiveness, dynamic technique, and wide range of repertoire. She began playing piano at the age of three, trained at the prestigious Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, and received a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in the United States.

Garrett’s recent engagements in the U.S. include recitals in New York; Boston; San Francisco; Washington, D.C.; Kansas City; Denver; Salt Lake City; Tucson; Houston; and Fairbanks, under the auspices of the Japan Foundation, the Japanese Embassy, and the Japanese Consulates General. She performed on several occasions for the 150-year celebration of the U.S.-Japan treaty. Under the Japan Foundation’s grant program she toured South and Central America in 2010, 2008, 2006, 2002, and 1999, including Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Mexico, Cuba, El Salvador, and Costa Rica. During these visits, she performed and lectured, receiving high critical acclaim. In the summers of 2009 and 2007, at the invitation of the U.S. State Department, Garrett toured in Japan as part of the Belrose Duo (with husband and Los Angeles Philharmonic cellist David Garrett) performing and lecturing on American music. In 2000, Junko received the “Japanese Counsel General’s Award” for her contributions to international relations and understanding between countries. In the 2012-13 season she performs Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto and Choral Fantasy, an ongoing Bach project including Italian- and French-influenced works and the Goldberg Variations, and various chamber music.

In Los Angeles she keeps a busy performance schedule, performing on the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Chamber Music Society series, chamber music collaborations with leading Los Angeles musicians, faculty performances, and guest artist appearances. Garrett holds a faculty position at Occidental College.

Garrett debuted in the U.S. in 1991, in South America in 1992, and in France in 1994, and her return trip to France in 1996 included a live performance on Radio France. Her return debut in her Japanese homeland was in 1995, and she has since performed frequently in Japan. Other recent activities include concert tours to India in 2004 and 2005, introducing Western Music to Indian audiences. She often gives master classes where she performs.

Garrett has released three CDs, Canción para piano, 100 Years of Japanese Piano Music, and American Music for Piano. Her teachers have included John Perry and Hiroshi Miura. Junko Ueno Garrett is a Kawai artist.