She is a harpist and arranger born in Japan who made her debut in New York in 1989 when she premiered works by several Japanese eminent composers.
She has appeared as a soloist with ensembles that include the Japan Chamber Ensemble and the Tokyo String Orchestra and also recorded with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Ensemble Lunaire.
Gaining much recognition in her field she has commissioned works such as Shun-Shu-Ka by Samoi Satoh and has appeared on recordings such as her solo Silent Night: Beautiful Melodies of Christmas, Repertoire-Liebstraume, Simply Christmas, Simply Christmas: Home for the Holidays, The Ultimate Christmas Album of All Time, Song of the Seashore and Other Melodies of Japan with James Galway and Lyrical Melodies of Japan with Andras Andorjaan.
Ayako Shinozaki recordings
Sony Classical SFK 62677 (CD: Silent Night/Beautiful Melodies of Christmas)
Harp – Ayako Shinozaki
Choir – Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Sources:
- http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE3DB173FF934A15751C0A96F948260
- http://www.musicfromjapan.org/resources/m1w30.htm
- http://www.sonybmgmasterworks.com/artists/ayakoshinozaki/index.html
- http://worldcat.org/wcpa/ow/0aabf956c97bd1ffa19afeb4da09e526.html
- http://www.mmguide.musicmatch.com/album/album.cgi?ALBUMID=796007
- http://www.amazon.ca/Silent-Night-Beautiful-Melodies-Christmas/dp/B0000029SS
- http://www.gohastings.com/catalog/item/item.asp?prodid=36099125