Piano | Oboe
A native of Okayama in Japan, Yoshihiro Okuyama is a clarinetist currently residing in Chicago area.
He earned his Master’s Degree in Orchestra Studies at the Chicago College of Performing Arts where he studied the clarinet under prof. John Bruce Yeh and Teresa Reilly.
During his undergraduate degree at Soai University in Osaka, he started to take music teaching method classes for public school as well. During the curricula, he was able to get work experience at a junior high school and high school as a music teacher. He got licensed as a Music Teacher for in Japanese public schools when he graduated from Soai University. Even though he have been mainly performing the clarinet at orchestras and wind ensembles professionally, he has been also dedicated to teaching the clarinet and piano after he graduated.
As a clarinet soloist, Yoshihiro has won several prizes, including the 2023 Aeolian Classics Emerging Artist Award, 2022 CCPA Solo Competition 2022, 26th KOBE International Music Contest, and 24th Matsukata Hall Music Award. He recently performed with CCPA Symphony as a concerto soloist, and he has participated as an orchestral musicians in concerts with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, Okayama Philharmonic Orchestra, and Osaka Shion Wind Ensemble. He recently recorded his first debut album from the Aeolian Classics, which it will be released in 2024.
He is a member of 2023-2024 season Civic Orchestra of Chicago associate, and New World Symphony substitute.