Tomoko Omura | Violin

Tomoko Omura | Violin

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Tomoko Omura is among today's leading voices in jazz violin. “Roots”,  her debut album for Inner Circle Music, is a compelling tribute to her  native Japan, featuring original arrangements of ten classic Japanese  folk and popular songs. In the words of fellow violinist Christian  Howes, “'Roots' is a tremendous accomplishment, and undoubtedly one of  the most important and creative jazz albums produced by a violinist in  recent history.” Downbeat magazine calls Tomoko “a leader with a  fine future”, awarding “Roots” 4 and a half stars. Her latest release,  “Post Bop Gypsies” (Inner Circle, 2017), is a contemporary jazz trio  album in the classic Gypsy jazz instrumentation of violin, guitar and  bass. Through 2015-2019, she has been named a “Rising  Star” in Downbeat magazine's prestigious Critic's Poll.

Strongly  informed by the jazz violin tradition, her 2008 self-released debut  album, “Visions”, is a collection of seven dynamic original pieces, each  of which is dedicated to one of the greats of the instrument, from  Stuff Smith to Zbigniew Seifert. Violinst Matt Glaser praises “Visions”  as such: “Her playing here is uniformly amazing, with great ideas, great  tone, perfect intonation and great feel...”. “Mark's Passion”,  dedicated to Mark Feldman, was awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2008  International Songwriting Competition. The release of “Visions” also  prompted Strings Magazine to name Omura a “Rising Star” in  2009. In 2014, she was chosen as a semi finalist of the 1st  International Zbigniew Seifert Jazz Violin Competition in Krakow,  Poland.

Originally from Shizuoka, Japan, she began  studying the violin at a young age with her mother, and began playing  jazz music while studying at Yokohama National University. In 2004,  Tomoko relocated to the United States when she was awarded a scholarship  to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. While at  Berklee, Tomoko worked with such legendary musicians as George Garzone,  Hal Crook, Ed Tomassi, Jamey Haddad, Matt Glaser and Rob Thomas. In  2005, during her sophomore year, she was awarded Berklee's prestigious  Roy Haynes award; an award given to one student for their exceptional  improvisational skills. Tomoko was the first violinist in Berklee's  history to receive this award. She graduated summa cum laude in 2007.

Since moving to NY in 2010, Tomoko has performed with a wide range of musicians including Fabian  Almazan, Paquito D'Rivera, Camila Meza, Aubrey Johnson, Annie Chen, Tammy Scheffer, , Joanna Wallfisch, Carolina Calvache, Mario  Castro, Vadim Neselovskyi, Daniel Foose, Simon Yu's  Exotic Experiment and The Mahavishnu Project. She has previously been a full time member of world  music band, The Guy Mendilow Ensemble, Celtic music band, RUNA and the  vintage jazz band, Carte Blanche. 

Fernando Huergo | Bass

Fernando Huergo | Bass

Dan Liparini | Guitar

Dan Liparini | Guitar