Tamami Honma consistently receives acclaim as a performer and recording artist. Her energetic and sensitive appearances have attracted praise, as soloist at Bolshoi Hall with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, at Carnegie Hall – ‘an eloquent, powerful performance’ (New York Times), and Wigmore Hall in London – ‘an interpretation that was probably as transparent and faithful to the Goldberg Variations as it’s possible to be on a modern piano’ (Music & Vision). She has frequently appeared on radio and television in Europe and in the US and participated in major music festivals such as the Aldeburgh Festival and the Warsaw Autumn. Her recordings ranging from Mozart, Chopin to new composers, has won high accolades in BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone, International Music Review, and she has been featured in Yomiuri Shinbun, The Guardian, The Independent, and various US newspapers. She was awarded a medal by President Adamkus of Lithuania for acting as their cultural ambassador after they gained independence from the USSR in 1991 which facilitated their entry into the European Union.
A student of Byron Janis who in turn was a student of Horowitz and both the Lhevinnes, Ms Honma is firmly rooted in the great romantic tradition. She was on the academic staff at the Royal Academy of Music in London for several years before joining the faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as a vocal coach and rehearses the SJ Symphonic Choir, West Bay Opera and other large ensemble productions. As artistic director of the ensemble-in-residence at the Triton Museum of Art, the Cal Arte Ensemble, she presents over thirty programs per year alongside other solo performances. The mayor of Saratoga recognized her cultural contributions with a commendation from the city, and for several years she has been president of the Saratoga Education Foundation ensuring that music and other subjects at risk from government cuts remain part of the school day for thousands of students.
She was recently featured on the cover of the city’s Spotlight magazine for the 2017 Christmas edition.