In May 2009, 8-year-old piano prodigy Umi Garrett appeared on
NBC’s The Ellen DeGenere show. It was such a sensation that her young
career has since skyrocketed, receiving requests to perform worldwide
and appearing regularly with symphony orchestras in the US and around
the world. At the age of 12, Umi’s most recent accomplishments
included winning first prizes at the 13th Osaka International Music
Competition in Japan in October and The Chopin International.
Competition in Budapest, Hungary in June, and Bradshaw and Buono
International Piano Competition in New York earlier in the same year.
Among Umi’s earlier highlights are an appearance with Keith Lockhart and
the Boston Pops sponsored by NPR’s From the Top, and her orchestral
debut with the Desert Symphony in Palm Desert, California in 2009 both
at the age of 9, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major.
Her performances thrilled the audiences with brilliant playing and
charm, earning enthusiastic standing ovations and establishing Umi as a
definitive rising star in classical music. Outside of the United States,
the young pianist has thrilled classical patrons in theatres from
Panama to the Netherlands and beyond. Umi made her debut on the Asian
continent with the Wuhan Symphony Orchestra in 2010 and in 2012
performed
with Liepaja Symphony Orchestra in Latvia as her European Orchestral
debut. Umi has performed solo concerts in ItalyPoland, Germany, Latvia,
Luxembourg, Australia, Japan and Panama. She captivated European
audiences in 2009 in several concerts at the Vianden Music Festival in
Luxembourg and in Germany with selected solo and chamber music works.
Umi was featured on live Luxembourg television in an interview as a
“wunderkind.”
A devout student of the piano, currently Umi is studying with John
Perry at the Colburn School of Music, and is in the Colburn Academy
program. Umi actively participates in international music festivals such
as the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy, the Cochem Music Festival
in Germany and the Sydney International Master Class Festival in
Australia.
