The Beginning…

Soothed in her infancy by the flute folk music of her Japanese roots and later inspired by the sounds of the Native American flute, Yuna began her flute playing and studies at the age of 5. As a newborn, Yuna was rather a difficult child to calm down, so in desperation, her father brought out a CD of Rampal’s collection of Japanese folk music, originally an accidental purchase, and to his surprise, it worked! The Rampal recording was the only thing that would calm Yuna throughout her infancy and it wasn’t until she met Sky Redhawk at Santa Fe, New Mexico when she truly became interested in the flute. As a four-year-old, Yuna was fascinated with the warm sounds that came from the Native American flute. In fact, she was so fascinated that she later drew a flute on the hotel stationary pad before bed…along with writing “Yuna” for the first time in her life! It wasn’t until Christmas of the next year when Yuna received a beginning Yamaha flute with a curved head joint when she started playing and pursuing her musical career.

As a result of years of training, Yuna has performed as the principal flutist of the Youth Orchestras of Lubbock Symphony, as well as her former high school band and orchestra. She has earned multiple recognitions and awards as a soloist in the Texas Flute Society, Music Teachers National Association, and the University Interscholastic League. She has participated in summer programs of the Oberlin Conservatory Flute Academy, the ARIA International Academy, and the Honor Wind Ensembles of both the University of Texas and Texas Tech University. She has had the distinction of performing three consecutive years as a TMEA All State musician, serving as principal flutist in the 2017 TMEA All-State Symphony Orchestra. Yuna appeared as a solo artist on NPR’s From The Top show #320 and was selected as a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist.

Feeling both a strong sense of compassion and an eagerness to share her heritage and love of music with young children, she has taken her advocacy for the arts into both public and private schools, educating and performing for elementary-aged students in both her local community and in Japan.

She has a BM in flute performance from the University of Colorado Boulder under the guidance of Christina Jennings. Yuna is currently studying at the University of North Texas for her Masters degree with Terri Sundberg.