Teaching Philosophy: “As a teacher, I believe it is my mission to find each student’s beauty and let the students actualize it from within so that each person will blossom into their unique selves."
Biography: Akiko Aoki is a professional singer, voice instructor, and Japanese teacher. Known for her jazzy phrasing and pitch control, she is an experienced and solid vocalist.
She received vocal training in various chorus groups during her elementary, junior, and senior high years in Japan. It was during her youth that she said to herself, “I could spend all day singing without ever getting bored." At the age of 16, Akiko won the opportunity to perform on the TV shows “NHK Nodo-Jiman” and “Star-Tanjo. At the age of 19, she began her professional singing career at Jazz clubs and lounges in Sendai and Yokohama Japan. Booked almost daily, she sang around six nights a week in various styles such as American pop, Jazz, and Japanese pop.
Akiko attended Berklee College of Music on a scholarship in 1986. During that time, she took voice lessons with great instructors including Jan Shapiro, Maggie Scott, and Anne Packham, and piano lessons with Yuki Arimasa and Bob Winter. After graduating from Berklee, she performed at many jazz clubs, hotels, and jazz festivals in local cities and Japan. She also taught at several private music schools such as Yokohama Contemporary School of Music and Mate School of Music. She released her first CD in 1996, “Alfie” with the Yuki Arimasa piano trio (Thomas Hebb on Bass and Marc Gratama on Drums.) The CD received a high evaluation from the Japanese jazz magazine Jazz Life.
After her wedding, she settled in New England where she continued to perform in jazz venues, restaurants, and lounges in the Boston and North Shore area. She has been teaching voice privately to all ages for over 30 years. She also recently trained and completed the third level of Somatic Voice Work. Akiko is not only a trustworthy instructor from her independent experience and training, but she is also well-educated in the pedagogical aspect of the voice. She looks forward to working with students from toddlers to seniors with no concern about background or prior experience. She enjoys providing an exploratory space for her students to learn.
Akiko began teaching in 1993 and joined Note-worthy Experiences in August 2023.
Biography: Akiko Aoki is a professional singer, voice instructor, and Japanese teacher. Known for her jazzy phrasing and pitch control, she is an experienced and solid vocalist.
She received vocal training in various chorus groups during her elementary, junior, and senior high years in Japan. It was during her youth that she said to herself, “I could spend all day singing without ever getting bored." At the age of 16, Akiko won the opportunity to perform on the TV shows “NHK Nodo-Jiman” and “Star-Tanjo. At the age of 19, she began her professional singing career at Jazz clubs and lounges in Sendai and Yokohama Japan. Booked almost daily, she sang around six nights a week in various styles such as American pop, Jazz, and Japanese pop.
Akiko attended Berklee College of Music on a scholarship in 1986. During that time, she took voice lessons with great instructors including Jan Shapiro, Maggie Scott, and Anne Packham, and piano lessons with Yuki Arimasa and Bob Winter. After graduating from Berklee, she performed at many jazz clubs, hotels, and jazz festivals in local cities and Japan. She also taught at several private music schools such as Yokohama Contemporary School of Music and Mate School of Music. She released her first CD in 1996, “Alfie” with the Yuki Arimasa piano trio (Thomas Hebb on Bass and Marc Gratama on Drums.) The CD received a high evaluation from the Japanese jazz magazine Jazz Life.
After her wedding, she settled in New England where she continued to perform in jazz venues, restaurants, and lounges in the Boston and North Shore area. She has been teaching voice privately to all ages for over 30 years. She also recently trained and completed the third level of Somatic Voice Work. Akiko is not only a trustworthy instructor from her independent experience and training, but she is also well-educated in the pedagogical aspect of the voice. She looks forward to working with students from toddlers to seniors with no concern about background or prior experience. She enjoys providing an exploratory space for her students to learn.
Akiko began teaching in 1993 and joined Note-worthy Experiences in August 2023.
