Her posters have been placed around campus this week, and at 7:30 p.m., Pruis Hall will be featuring a performance by jazz pianist and composer Hiromi Uehara.
"Audiences should expect an energetic program filled with musical elements from classical music, rock and jazz," said Darcy Wood, associate director of John R. Emens Auditorium.
Born in Shizuoka, Japan, in 1979, Uehara began taking piano lessons at the age of 6 and began performing with high-profile orchestras at the age of 12, according to Uehara's website.
Her first album, "Another Mind," which debuted in 2003, created a lot of buzz in her home country of Japan and went gold.
Junior Kyle Hovanec said Uehara is a good act for anyone interested in modern and contemporary jazz and anyone "willing to listen to something different or willing to try unique experiences."
Her website says she has numerous awards for her work, such as the Guinness Jazz Festival Rising Star Award and the Recording Industry Association of Japan's Jazz Album of the Year.
Despite winning awards for jazz music, Uehara said that she doesn't like to put labels on her style.
"I don't want to put a name on my music," she said on her website. "Other people can put a name on what I do. It's just the union of what I've been listening to and what I've been learning. It has some elements of classical music, it has some rock, it has some jazz, but I don't want to give it a name."
After spending a couple of years writing jingles for Nissan and other Japanese companies, Uehara came to the U.S. in 1999 to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston. It was during this time that her experiences broadened her music even more, according to her website.
"It expanded so much the way I see music," Uehara said. "Some people dig jazz, some people dig classical music, some people dig rock. Everyone is so concerned about who they like. They always say, ‘This guy is the best,' ‘No, this guy is the best.' But I think everyone is great. I really don't have barriers to any type of music. I could listen to everything from metal to classical music to anything else."
Hovenac said having Uehara come to Muncie is interesting for Ball State, and he suggests students look up some of her performances on YouTube to see more of her work.
"It's very rare that we get actual modern classical jazz performers, but then at the same time rare that they're not even from the United States," Hovanec said.
Uehara is constantly drawing inspiration from everyone and everything around her.
"I love Bach, I love Oscar Peterson, I love Franz Liszt, I love Ahmad Jamal," Uehara said on her website. "I also love people like Sly and the Family Stone, Dream Theatre and King Crimson. Also, I'm so much inspired by sports players like Carl Lewis and Michael Jordan. Basically, I'm inspired by anyone who has big, big energy. They really come straight to my heart."
Discography:
"Another Mind" (2003)
"Brain" (2004)
"Spiral" (2005)
"Time Control" (2007)
"Beyond Standard" (2008)
For more about Hiromi Uehara, visit her website at hiromimusic.com
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