Nanae Fujiwara　( ja, 藤原奈苗, Fujiwara, Nanae）is a Japanese

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

based in Chicago and a co-founder of the Lyra Guitar Quartet. Fujiwara is noted for her performance and promotion of the Spanish Classical Guitar repertoire on social media and to the public. Nanae currently serves on the board of the Chicago Classical Guitar Society.

Biography

Nanae Fujiwara was born in Okayama, Japan. Her family moved to Chicago, Illinois for work when she was in elementary school. Nanae grew up between Japan and the United States throughout her childhood. Fujiwara studied voice from the age of 8 and started learning guitar at 15 when she discovered the Japanese folk guitar duo called

Yuzu Yuzu (''Citrus junos'', from Japanese or ) is a citrus fruit and plant in the family Rutaceae of East Asian origin. Yuzu has been cultivated mainly in East Asia, though recently also in New Zealand, Australia, Spain, Italy, and France. I ...

. After graduating from high school, Fujiwara pursued an associate degree in Music from

William Rainey Harper College William Rainey Harper College is a Public college, public community college in Palatine, Illinois. It was established by referendum in 1965 and opened in September 1967. It is named for William Rainey Harper, a pioneer in the junior college m ...

. She became interested in classical guitar, a long-time hobby of her mother, and quickly devoted herself to mastering the instrument. At the age of 20, Fujiwara learned to read musical notation. Fujiwara then earned her bachelor's degree in Classical Guitar performance from

Northeastern Illinois University Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) is a public university in Chicago, Illinois. NEIU serves approximately 9,000 students in the region and is a Hispanic-serving institution. The main campus is located in the community area of North Park wi ...

where she graduated magna cum laude under the tutelage of Brian Torosian. In 2013, Fujiwara was a semi-finalist in the Wilson Center Guitar Competition. In 2017, Fujiwara earned her Master's in Classical Guitar Performance from the University of Alicante where she studied under Pepe Romero, Manuel Barrueco, David Russell, Fabio Zanon, and other guitar legends. Since completing her master's, Fujiwara has focused her performance career on showcasing music by Albeniz,

Rodrigo Rodrigo is a Spanish, Portuguese and Italian name derived from the Germanic name ''Roderick'' (Gothic ''*Hroþareiks'', via Latinized ''Rodericus'' or ''Rudericus''), given specifically in reference to either King Roderic (d. 712), the last Vis ...

, Tarrega, and Llobet. In 2020, Fujiwara became an affiliate of the classical guitar non-profit, Ex-Aequo, most notable for her participation as a performer in the "Changing the Canon" project which significantly expanded the repertoire of classical guitar pieces composed by black composers.

References

External links

Youtube Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fujiwara, Nanae Living people Japanese classical guitarists Japanese women guitarists People from Okayama Northeastern University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)