When Aya Ishihara was a young girl, she fell in love with music. She used to sing TV animation songs loudly in her house while watching television. This ultimately led to her parents giving her a good scolding when she would not stop, but she kept on singing. She learned to play the piano at the age of 6, and when she turned 10 years old she joined two chorus groups. One was her elementary school chorus group, and the other was a municipal chorus group by the name of " The Biwako Boys and Girls Choir". When she was 13 years old, the Biwako Boys and Girls Choir received the opportunity to sing in West-Germany and Switzerland. It was here that Aya experienced the great joys of singing in a large performing group, making new friendships, and international exchanges.
In 1996 she entered the Koyo Conservatory, and began to study music on the University level. After only two years there she received a scholarship to attend The Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1999 she eagerly arrived at Berklee and began studying many musical styles including Classical, Jazz, Pop, R&B, Gospel, and much more. She gained great experience performing and recording at Berklee, along with also working outside of the school, (The KGI Studio, The Union United Methodist Church, and more). She graduated from Berklee receiving grades of the highest stature, and was awarded a Diploma from the Performance of Voice Department in December 2002.
After graduation, she spent a year fine tuning her musical skills and career in Boston before moving to New York in October, 2003.
Since Aya's arrival in New York she has been writing her own songs, continuing vocal lessons, and performing live in several venues. She has also recorded with several different projects. Aya now holds a repertoire that includes a number of original songs, arrangements, and well known standards. Her attitude in her carrer is " I never want to be defeated by myself, I will continue to love music and never let the struggle involved with the business destroy that love".
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Hi Aya! Thanks for the kind dance lessons you and Hiromu gave me last night. You're such s special pair :) . I got a Facebook profile now too at http://www. facebook. com/profile. php?id=1265839545 & I hope to see you there :) . Arigato Gozaimasu! Deep bows & big hugs, jc (><)
You were great at the Knitting Factory last night. Thanks for being the one person in the J-Rock community of NYC smart enough to bring "Take Five" into your repertoire :) . Kindness, jc (><)
Hello Aya, Just to let you know, I submitted a request to my job to be off on Sunday November 02, 2008 so I can see you perform along with THE ROYAL LOWKICK MANAH at The Knitting Factory. Are you excited as I am? - Phil
