Tomoko, the Jazzy Violinist

440 (gypsy jazz & originals)

J-Way String Quartet (jazz & originals)
Axis Electric Strings (popular)
Mood Swings Orchestra (jazz big band)
Newton All-City Orchestra (grade school ensemble)

Orchestras and Classical Ensembles
Plymouth Philharmonic

Lexington Symphony
New England Philharmonic
Boston Chamber Ensemble
Brookline Symphony
Avalon String Quartet
Gliere String Duo

Tomoko was a scholarship student at Berklee College of Music (1990-1993), where she studied with Sharon Leventhal (classical violin), Matt Glaser (jazz violin), Herb Pomeroy, Greg Hopkin and Ken Pullig (jazz arranging and composition).  During these years, she toured with Hypnotic Clambake, and being inspired by Turtle Island String Quartet, she formed a jazz string quartet, J-Way (formerly known as Underground String Quartet) for which she wrote many arrangements and original compositions, and performed in New England area. She also provided arrangements and performed with Axis Electric Strings (Top 40 songs) and Mood Swings Orchestra (jazz big band) as a soloist, and wrote many grade school level arrangements for Newton All-City Orchestra.

Being a "jazzy" violinist, Tomoko has performed with groups representing styles from classical, rock, pop to jazz to world music, demonstrating a great sense of improvisation. She leads a gypsy jazz quartet "440" featuring beautiful harmony by violin and clarinet. In recent years, Tomoko appears as a guest with Women In World Jazz, and performs with a legendary clarinetist, Billy Novick in swing jazz trio "Jazz Tapestry". She also collaborates with Jim Kweskin, the founder of the legendary 1960s Jim Kweskin Jug Band. On her European tour in 2024, she performed at Django Festival Portugal in Lisbon and joined with Rumbo Sur in Madrid, Spain. In Japan, she performed a gypsy jazz trio in her hometown, Osaka.

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​For more than 30 years, Tomoko has taught many students and led group classes and ensembles at Brookline Music School, where she is a current faculty member. She has also taught at Suzuki Institute of Boston, where she received Suzuki teacher training from Donald Becker.

Degrees: B.S. Keio University, Tokyo; B.A. Berklee College of Music; Suzuki Certification through Suzuki Institute of Boston

440 (gypsy jazz)

Women In World Jazz

Jim Kweskin Jug Band

Jazz Tapestry with Billy Novick

J-Way String Quartet (jazz, rock, pop, world music)

Axis Electric Strings (top 40)
Mood Swings Orchestra (swing big band)
Con Brio Trio (classical, jazz, pop)
A la Modal (jazz & funk)
Hypnotic Clambake (eclectic)
Rumbo Sur (tango)
Greater Bostonians (jazz big band)
Clef Club (early American music)

Brookline Music School, Brookline MA
Indian Hill Music School, Littleton MA
Suzuki Institute of Boston, Boston MA
Brooks School, North Andover MA

Born in Osaka, Japan, Tomoko started playing the violin at age 6. Having a mother who was one of the early Suzuki method pupils, Tomoko soon became one of the most advanced students in the studio. Along with solo repertoire study, she also enjoyed playing with orchestras and chamber ensembles. After graduating from Osaka Kyoiku-dai Tennoji High School, Tomoko moved to Tokyo. She majored in electrical engineering at Keio University, but spent a lot of time playing jazz saxophone and singing in the R&B band. She graduated from college in 1988, and worked as an engineer in Tokyo for a year before moved to the U.S. to pursue her career as a musician.

Biography

Experiences