Biography

FROM THE BEGINNING

Originally from Yokohama, Japan, Kyoko has been learning different instruments since her early childhood.  From the age of five, she started classical piano lessons.  She then began to play xylophone, harmonica, recorder, accordion during her elementary school years and chose the flute in the junior high school band in Yokohama, Japan.

MUSIC EDUCATION AND WORK HISTORY

After moving to the United States in 1987, she was accepted as a Music Education major at the University of Washington in Seattle.  She took pedagogies for orchestral and band instruments such as violin, cello, double bass, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, and drum as part of the Music Education training.  

Upon receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Music and in Music Education from the University of Washington in 1995,  she began teaching instrumental and choral music in public and private schools in the states of Washington and California.  Her interest in exploring flute music led her to receive the Master of Arts in Flute Performance from the California State University, Fresno in 2000. 

Kyoko performed professionally as a flutist at weddings all across the Fresno/Madera counties, at the Yosemite National Park, and landed a coveted spot as the second flute seat in the Merced Symphony, which provides world-class musicians and performances to the Central Valley area of California.  After moving to San Francisco,  Kyoko continued to teach instrumental and general music for 14 years in the California public school system.   

MUSIC & SPIRITUAL AWAKENING

During her study of flute performance in Fresno, she encountered a spiritual organization called Brahma Kumaris and started to meditate intensively following the teachings of Raja Yoga.  In 2005, she moved to the BK Meditation Center in San Francisco with a deep and loving commitment to serve humanity through spirituality.  

HARP

Kyoko became interested in playing the harp in 2015 when she heard meditation music being played with the harp sound.  She was drawn to the healing energy and the soothing sound of the harp, and shortly after the experience, she discovered her current harp teacher, Portia Diwa who is the Director of the Healing Harp Certification Program at Sutter Health in San Francisco.  Kyoko has since completed 126-hours of internship at the California Pacific Medical Center, Davies Campus, playing healing harp music for patients as part of the certification program.  Due to pandemic, she was not able to continue the internship in the hospital, and the requirement to complete the program had to be changed.  Kyoko recorded and edited songs from various genres of healing harp music, and published a virtual CD called, 'Journey of Remembrance' in December, 2021.  Since the lockdown in 2020, Kyoko has been taking an advantage of staying at home and composing her original songs on the harp.

LISTEN TO ORIGINAL COMPOSITIONS OF HEALING HARP MUSIC BY KYOKO

Every Friday, get a sneak peek as Kyoko plays her original compositions of healing harp music at the virtual Friday MeetUp Meditation organized by the Brahma Kumaris Meditation Center in San Francisco.   Her healing harp sound with live commentary helps the audience to go into a deep meditative state and relaxation.   

Kyoko offers healing harp music to those who would like to relax, slow down, reflect, heal, recharge, and to re-energize.