Kanako Chikami is a Percussion Instructor at Potomac Arts Academy and is a current candidate for her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at George Mason University. She has been on faculty at Potomac Arts Academy for a year and has taught as part of our summer camps as well as private lessons. Enjoy this YouTube video of Kanako performing and learn more about her in the interview below:
PAA: How did you first fall in love with music?
KC: According to my mom, I started singing when I was two years old in front of TV. She thought that I might like music, and she signed me up to learn marimba, piano, and chorus in my kindergarten. I think I loved playing marimba and singing the most.
PAA: Tell us about a teaching experience you had that was especially memorable.
KC: I had a chance to teach a percussion ensemble for middle-high and high school students at Sumer Camp of Potomac 2015 Summer at GMU. I picked a piece, Fanfare for Tambourines for 5 percussionists, for them. They only had 3 or 4 rehearsals until a final concert. My concern was that some of them never touched tambourines before. However, each student had tremendously high motivation and concentration, so it was easy for me to coach them at every single rehearsal. In the final concert, they did a great job and seemed that they had a great time. I was very grateful to teach them.
PAA: What are some unique things you do when you teach?
KC: Whenever I teach a piece of percussion music to my students, I let them sing rhythms with metronome first and don’t let them play with real instruments. This is because I want them to get used to rhythms on the page without worrying about technique.
PAA: Do you have any pets? If so, tell us about them. If not, tell us the type of pet you would like to have.
KC: No, but I would like to have a dog or cat in the future. I like Shiba-Inu and Rossian Blue.
If you’re interested in signing up for lessons with Kanako, simply go to our Private Music Instruction page to get started!