Umi Garrett piano
Hailed by The Huffington Post as “a budding musical genius,” 13-year-old American pianist Umi Garrett is gaining acclaim from all over the world for her exquisite musicality, emotional and mature sound, flawless technique and virtuosity, and gracious stage presence filled with poise and charm. Of her performance of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Winnipeg Symphony in November 2013, the Winnipeg Free Press wrote “In addition to displaying bravura technique, the young soloist also possesses an extraordinary musicality.” Umi’s performance with the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra was praised by the Crescenta Valley Weekly: “Garrett is the real thing.” Recently, Umi was granted a prestigious title of the Young Steinway Artist, an honor only awarded to today’s most acclaimed young artists.
Among her honors are First Prize at the 13th Osaka International Music Competition in Japan, the Chopin International Competition Chopin Plus in Budapest, Hungary, and the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition in New York in 2012. She was also the Grand Prix winner of the Chopin International Competition in Hartford, Connecticut in 2010, and was subsequently invited to perform at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in New York.
Umi was eight years old in May 2009 when she made her public broadcast appearance on NBC’s The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Declared by Ellen DeGeneres: “She is going to be very well known,” Umi has captivated the audiences around the world since her early age. Umi made an orchestral debut with the Desert Symphony in California at the age of eight, and she made her appearance with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops sponsored by NPR’s From the Top when she was nine years old. Florida Weekly described ten-year-old Umi Garrett’s performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K 488 with the Charlotte Symphony and Toshimasa Francis Wada: “Umi Garrett wowed the sold-out crowd with her masterful performance. She simply blew this reviewer and the audience away with her performance, her fluid runs and countless trills flawlessly performed, joyous at one moment, prayerful at another.” An appearance with the Missouri Symphony and the conductor, Kirk Trevor, garnered young Umi Garrett an impressive review from The Columbia Daily Tribune that stated, “She played with the poise and supreme confidence of a veteran five times her age. She, the conductor, and the orchestra worked as one. The power of her tiny hands on the keys was mesmerizing. ‘Genius’ seems the best description.” Umi’s past engagements include the Wuhan Symphony Orchestra in China; the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra in Latvia; the Thayer Symphony in Massachusetts; the Indiana Chamber Orchestra in Indianapolis, Indiana, and solo recitals in Italy, Poland, England, Germany, Japan, and Panama Republic.
Umi’s most recent season’s highlights include a return engagement with Kirk Trevor and the Missouri Symphony Orchestra, a debut concert with Nicholas McGegan with the Pasadena Symphony and Pops, and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Alexander Mickelthwate, as well as performing at La Ciudad de las Ideas, an international conference in Puebla, Mexico. In addition, Umi gave solo recitals during her concert tour in thirty cities in fourteen states throughout the United States during the 2013-2014 season. She also gave solo recitals on the transatlantic Crystal Cruise ship from Spain to Miami. Umi was also chosen as one of “The 12 Most Talented Prodigies” for 2013 by The Huffington Post. Umi is a frequent guest artist at the Festival Lato z Chopinem, the Chopin Summer Festival in Busko-Zdroj in Poland.
