Tomoko Omura is one of the most prominent voices in jazz violin today. Her debut album, “Roots,” is an ode to Japan. It features original arrangements of ten popular and classic Japanese songs. Christian Howes, a fellow violinist, describes “Roots” as “a remarkable accomplishment and undoubtedly one the most important, creative jazz albums by a violinist since recent history.” “Visions,” her self-released 2008 debut album, is a collection seven original pieces that are dedicated to one of the greatest players of the instrument, from StuffSmith to Zbigniew Sifert. Matt Glaser, a violinist, praises Visions as such: “Her playing is uniformly incredible, with great ideas and great tone, perfect intonation, and great feel …”.. “Mark’s Passion”, dedicated Mark Feldman, received an Honorable Mention at the 2008 International Songwriting Competition. Strings Magazine named Omura a “Rising star” in 2009 after the release of Visions. She was a finalist in the 2014 International Zbigniew Seifert Jazz Violin Competition, Krakow, Poland. She is originally from Shizuoka in Japan. Her mother taught her the violin and she started playing jazz music at Yokohama National University. Tomoko moved to the United States in 2004 after she was granted a scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA. Tomoko was fortunate to have worked with many famous musicians, including Hal Crook, Ed Tomassi and Jamey Haddad. She was awarded the prestigious Roy Haynes award by Berklee in 2005 during her sophomore year. This award is given to one student who exhibits exceptional improvisational skills. This award was given to Tomoko for the first time in Berklee’s history. In 2007, she graduated summa cumlaude. Tomoko moved to NY in 2010 and has since performed with many musicians, including Vadim Neselovskyi (Blue Note), Paquito D’Rivera. The Mahavishnu Project’s Tammy Scheffer, Aubrey Johnson, Tammy Scheffer, Fabian Almazan, and Vadim Neselovskyi. Almazan’s debut Blue Note/ArtistShare recording, “The Rhizome Project”, features her. She is also a regular performer with the vintage jazz band Carte Blanche and has been featured on two of their albums. She was previously a member of The Guy Mendilow Ensemble and RUNA, a Celtic music group. From www.tomokoomura.com
