Pianist Tomoko Kashiwagi finds great joy in playing diverse repertoire she encounters as a performer and as an educator. Kashiwagi joined the faculty at the University of Arkansas- Fayetteville in 2012.  Currently Kashiwagi is the Assistant Professor of Piano and Collaborative Piano and the Emily J. McAllister Endowed Professor in Piano.
 
Kashiwagi completed her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees as well as the Performer Diploma in Piano Performance at Indiana University where she studied with Professors Shigeo and Reiko Neriki.  It did not take long for Kashiwagi to realize the importance of chamber music and ensemble playing as a musician and that she truly enjoys interacting with other musicians.  She is the first recipient of the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Texas at Austin where she studied with Prof. Anne Epperson. 
 
Kashiwagi has performed in such prestigious venues as the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Central Conservatory in Beijing, Guildhall School in London among others.  During the summer, Kashiwagi was the staff pianist for renowned Meadowmount School of Music for six years and more recently, the pianist for the Intensive Oboe Institute at Interlochen, MI.  She is frequently invited to be an official pianist for conferences, competitions and festivals which included the 2014 Menuhin International Violin Competition in Austin, TX and International Tuba and Euphonium Conference in 2019.