about me
Hello, I'm Mana.
I'm based in Cheshire, UK and love to go for walks, cook or read when I'm not playing or teaching the oboe. I love performing in all sorts of different settings from solo and chamber music to symphony orchestras.
When I was 10, I desperately wanted to join the school wind band back in Tokyo where I grew up, and my music teacher persuaded me to try the oboe - a truly life-changing event in my life. I used to train as a ballet dancer and child actor but as soon as I discovered the oboe, it became my main focus.
3 years later I moved to the other side of the world to study at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, UK, which is affectionately known as Chets. I loved living and studying alongside other young talented musicians from all over the world, and to spend even more of my time making music, I joined the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain as well.
After Chets, I studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where I received several awards including Evelyn Rothwell/Barbirolli Prize and Nicholas Blake Award, and had some of the most memorable orchestral experiences of my life such as playing principal oboe under Sir Colin Davis's baton in Beethoven's 6th Symphony. I moved on to complete my Master's degree in Orchestral Training with Distinction at Guildhall School of Music & Drama, which would not have been possible without the Leverhulme Trust scholarship.
After completing my studies, I took part in selective professional training courses such as London Symphony Orchestra Academy and London Sinfonietta Academy. I also received a Craxton Memorial Trust Award, and at the International Barbirolli Oboe Competition I was awarded a special prize for my performance of the oboe sonata by York Bowen.
In 2014 I joined the London-based wind quintet, Magnard Ensemble. We were the Royal Academy of Music Chamber Music Fellows and held the inaugural joint fellowship between Open Academy and Wigmore Hall Learning, through which we received training in early years music education. Magnard Ensemble have since grown into a world-class ensemble, known for exhilarating live performances, inspirational education work, and high quality recordings. We have been selected by several young artist platforms such as the Tillett Trust, the Tunnell Trust, and Snape Malting's Chamber Music in Residence. Notable concert performances include Wigmore Hall (London, UK), KKL (Lucerne, Switzerland), and Bridgewater Hall (Manchester, UK).
Contemporary music repertoire has always excited me and I have always been open-minded as a performer. In 2012 I was involved in the revival of Sir Harrison Birtwistle's music-theatre piece, Bow Down by The Opera Group (now the Mahogany Opera). The performers consisted of 5 actors, a flautist and myself, and we devised the piece under the direction of Frederick Wake-Walker. We performed at Brighton, Norwich, Latitude and Spitalfields Festivals and at Brighton we were awarded the Argus Angel Award.
During the 2018-19 season, I was part of the new training programme, BCMG NEXT created by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. I was given the opportunity to meet and work with composers such as Dai Fujikura, Rebecca Saunders and Edwin Roxburgh, as well as receive one-to-one coaching from Melinda Maxwell. I loved exploring the extended techniques and hearing how effectively they can be incorporated into music in works such as Rebecca Saunders's To and Fro for violin and oboe. In Edwin Roxburgh's At the Still Point of the Turning World, I also experienced the thrill of working with electronics - a galactic journey through sound created by an oboe, a microphone, a pre-programmed electronic effects and 6 (!) speakers! You can hear a short excerpt here.
Magnard Ensemble loves to explore new repertoire and work with composers but I also perform with other new music ensembles such as Riot Ensemble, Octandre Ensemble and Psappha. In November 2019 I had the pleasure of working with the Ernst von Siemens Composer Prize winner, Ann Cleare for the UK premiere of her eyam iv at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.
I also perform alongside pianist Suling King as Shion Duo and we joined forces with actress Rebecca Kenny to create a performance piece entitled Jane Eyre Reimagined for Equator Women of the World Festival at King's Place (London, UK) in October 2016. This was revived for 2019 Didsbury Arts Festival in Manchester. We aimed to bring the voices of some of the underrated female composers and writers to the fore by creating a imaginative collage of music and spoken words inspired by Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre.
You might also spot me in orchestra concerts across the country - I work with orchestras such as Manchester Camerata, the Hallé Orchestra and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and have been on trial for the principal oboe position with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, and for the position of second oboe and principal cor anglais with City of London Sinfonia. I regularly appear as a soloist with London Concertante, an innovative chamber orchestra that tours all over the UK.
Teaching is an important part of my career. I have had the privilege of learning from the country's top professors all through my oboe-playing life, and I believe it to be every musician's responsibility to pass on their love of music to their students young and not-so-young. I am currently the oboe teacher at Queen's School and Abbey Gate College in Chester, Stockport Grammar School, and teach privately. All my students achieve Merit or Distinction at ABRSM Grade Examinations, although I don't believe exams to be an essential part of their development. I'm also available for online lessons via Zoom, so please don't hesitate to get in touch if you are looking for an oboe teacher, wherever you live!
Pilates is a form of body & mind conditioning created by Joseph Pilates, who called it Contrology. This method of exercise is still not well understood by the general public, and a lot of people think it's not suitable for them. In fact the best thing about Pilates is that it is suitable for absolutely everyone because it is always about you and your body. Practising Pilates can improve not only your physical strength but also your mental wellbeing, and the aim is to enhance your everyday life. After each session you should feel refreshed, clear-headed and tall! I began practising Pilates in 2015 and I'm now a qualified instructor. It has made a huge difference to my oboe playing - my breath control and stamina have improved, I don't suffer from pain in the lower back or shoulders anymore, and it has helped me with performance anxiety. Get in touch for a session with me today!
If you are an artist yourself and looking for a collaborator, I would love to hear from you. I'm always up for new challenges!
Mana x