Yoshi Gurwell
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| My
name is Yoshi Gurwell. I’m a ballet pianist in Los Angeles and this is
my 12th year as a ballet pianist. Currently, I’m working at three colleges which are CSULB, University of California at Irvine (UCI), and Chapman University, as well as at The Wooden Floor (formerly St. Joseph Ballet), a non profit dance school, and Westside Ballet. I have also released four ballet class CDs called “Music for Ballet Lovers, Vol.1, Vol.2, Vol.3 and Vol.4”. Most of my CD music came from well-known great ballet selections, which I arranged for the ballet class. I’d like to mention that my CDs are a little different taste than the other ballet class CDs. My husband plays trumpet or flugelhorn on a few tunes, to accompany my piano, on tunes in really classic style, or nice romantic waltzes, plus ragtime, marches, or Gershwin’s swing selections. So, people say that my CDs are not only for ballet fans, they say we just love to listen to them, too. Of course, that makes me happy, too. My newly released CD, Music for Ballet Lovers, Vol. 4, features piano only. I’ll start my fifth CD project soon. The music will be mainly my favorite ballet selections plus some special compositions! Somehow, my mission has become, as a show of respect for the “ballet music” composers, to arrange many more classical selections. In this way, today’s ballet students will be exposed to music from actual ballets, during their training, so they can get the essence of the true ballet culture. I hope to inspire, further, those hard-working students who are dreaming of becoming professional dancers. Usually, as I accompany the classes, I play not only classic music, but also many other genres. However, when I play only pop, movie themes, folk songs, or jazzy music for a few days, I always miss classic music so much! Of course, for me, this feeling tells me to keep recording my classical style, at least for a while. Someday, I suppose I will make a ballet class CD utilizing other styles, too. Please look forward my future ballet journey. To be continued soon..... Sincerely, Prima Dona Pianist, Yoshi Gurwell --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read about Doug Gurwell, Yoshi's husband. He is a composer, pianist, lyricist, arranger, trumpet player & bassist. For her website in English and Japanese: www.Duodolphin.com |