Celia’s Page

I grew up in Indonesia surrounded by music. Forgoing formal education, I began performing professionally at the age of nine, when I was engaged by Wesley Church as their chief organist.

My playing evidently attracted many admirers, among them the Japanese Consulate in Sumatra, which asked me to perform yearly on the occasion of the Emperor's Birthday, starting at age fifteen.

In 1978 I won the Grand Prize at the Indonesia Electone Festival, and embarked on a succession of television and concert appearances.

In 1979 my longing to grow musically and my close relationship with Japan led to a Yamaha Foundation scholarship to study in Japan, and later at Shobi Conservatoire - my first experience in a formal educational setting.

Marriage to Jay, an American Jew, in 1983 brought my first exposure to what were to become lifetime passions, Jewish popular and liturgical music and Japanese classical music.

In 1985 I organized and produced the first concert at Shobi Conservatoire performed entirely by foreign students.

In addition to teaching, composing and performing in Japan and abroad, I currently perform at official functions for the embassies of Indonesia and Israel in Japan, and often tour Japan with my O-koto teacher, the renowned Satomi Fukami.

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