Who is Keiko Omata?

 

“I love to try different things, mixing contemporary and classical music with jazz and brazilian rhythms like samba and bossa nova” -Keiko Omata

 

Keiko Omata can be best described as a performer without labels, passing though various music styles with ease and vivacity. A poliglota (she can speak in English, Japanese, Portuguese and French), Keiko was born in Tokyo, Japan where she learned piano and received a bachelors degree in French language (Caritas Junior College) and French literature (Rikyo University). While in Japan Keiko was inspired by the music of Ella Fitzgerald and Lisa Ono and became a fan of jazz and bossa nova, this eventually led her to pursue a career in performance, composition and the music business.

            Keiko won the grand-prix prize at the “Asakusa Jazz Festival”. This created an opportunity to travel to Australia to participate in the “Manly Jazz Festival”.With the intention to study and learn more about Brazilian music, she landed in Brazil in 1999 and started to sing in Rio de Janeiro. She continued her musical studies and eventually recieved a bachlors in Classical Music Composition from the Brasilian Conservatory of Music and studied Classical Conducting at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

Keiko has also worked with Roberto Menescal in a compilation CD of bossa nova. Her first solo album, “The Secret Garden” is now available on iTunes, Apple Music and Spotify,