Art writing in the Mar. 4, 2010 issue of Vox magazine
Peter Miyamoto is an athlete. You’d never guess it, but when he sits down at the 88 black and white keys of the grand piano, he exudes energy and strength. He sways with the music. His fingers fly over the keys.
“His little finger probably runs three miles during a concert,” says Kirk Trevor, music director and conductor of the Missouri Symphony. Miyamoto moved to Columbia in 2004 to teach young pianists at MU and to educate the community about classical music. “He sets a very high standard for Columbia to have in our community.”
In the world of classical music, Miyamoto was a late bloomer. He was a normal kid growing up in San Francisco, not a child prodigy. But after hearing Beethoven’s “Pathetique” in a concert as a 12-year-old, Miyamoto asked his parents for lessons. Listening to him now, it’s hard to believe he had a late start.
“I really struggled, but I somehow managed to learn,” Miyamoto says. After encouragement from his piano teacher, Miyamoto attended Curtis Institute of Music, an exclusive conservatory in Philadelphia. While most college seniors were getting senioritis, Miyamoto won the first Gilmore Young Artist Award, a prize given every two years to promising young talents — like an Olympic gold for pianists. He then went on to get a master’s in music from Yale and a doctorate in musical arts from Michigan State.
His game plan had always been classical, but that changed when he began working for the California Institute of the Arts in 2001. At CalArts, Miyamoto added 20th century pieces to his repertoire, including John Cage’s “4’33” — four minutes and 33 seconds of silence at the piano (seriously).
The music at CalArts was fun and challenging for Miyamoto, but it didn’t allow much time for the classical tradition, which he returned to in 2004 at MU as associate professor of piano.
Miyamoto’s passion for piano has taken him all over the world to play and teach in countries such as Russia, Greece and Japan. Although powerful as a solo artist, he also enjoys performing with other musicians.
“There is something about the dialogue of musicians — the immediate response — playing and getting an answer back,” he says. “When it works, it really is special.”
His wife, fellow classical pianist Ayako Tsuruta, says performing with him involves compromise. If they get worked up during rehearsals, they have to hash it out quickly because they live together. “The end product is always a lot of fun,” Tsuruta says. “What’s challenging is finding a baby sitter.”
