Behind the scenes with Yoko Miwa – educator

Yoko Miwa spends a lot of her time playing shows, but that’s not the only thing she does in the world of piano. She’s also an educator, teaching piano at her alma mater, Boston’s Berklee College of Music.

“When I came here from Japan in 1997 to attend Berklee, I never thought I would one day be teaching there,” Yoko said. “My original intention was to attend Berklee straight through and return to Japan as soon as I graduated.”

Yoko never applied for a job at Berklee — the school approached her three years ago and asked her to join their piano faculty. Now Yoko has a full schedule at Berklee, teaching between 25 and 30 private piano students each semester.

“My students are mainly focused on either jazz or classical but I’m committed to teaching whatever style someone is interested in,” Yoko said. She was offered the opportunity to take over a class from a well-known Berklee teacher who’s retiring, but she turned down the offer to keep doing more of what she likes, private lessons.

“It’s easier to share knowledge which is more closely connected to performing when I teach private lessons,” she said.