Native of Yokohama City, Japan, Chihiro Shibayama is a versatile bicoastal freelance percussionist.
Ms. Shibayama was a percussionist for a successful run of Miss Saigon on Broadway, which run from March 23rd, 2017 to January 14th, 2018. She had her Broadway debut as one of three on-stage musicians for a new adaptation of The Cherry Orchard starring Diane Lane produced by The Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theatre. She has performed for the renowned Radio City Christmas Spectacular, NBC's Good Morning America with John Legend and Common, Day Time Emmy's Award, The Metropolitan Opera, San Diego Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and several popular Broadway musicals including The Addams Family, Anything Goes, Cinderella, and West Side Story.
Among other notable performances, she was one of the three on-stage percussion soloists in the U.S premiere of Tan Dun's opera, TEA – A mirror of soul at The Santa Fe Opera (2007), the East coast premiere at the Opera Company of Philadelphia (2009), and the Canadian premiere at the Vancouver Opera (2013). As a new music advocate, she recently toured China to perform in Beijing Modern Music Festival (BMMF) 2015. She has performed and recorded with successful new music ensembles such as Alarm Will Sound, American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), S.E.M. Ensemble, Second Instrumental Unit, New Juilliard Ensemble, and AXIOM and more.
She has performed concerti as soloist with numerous orchestras including Great Lake Symphony Orchestra and Manitou Music Festival Orchestra. As an orchestral musician, she has performed as a member of Kansas City Symphony, Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra Now (TON), Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY), Mid America Productions, Dartmouth Symphony, Hudson Valley Symphony, Chelsea Symphony, Ensemble 212, Spoleto Music Festival in Italy in 2004, Daytime Emmy's Award Orchestra at Radio City Music Hall in 2005.
As an educator, she served as a percussion faculty at Diller-Quaile School of Music for 7 years and Third Street Music Settlement for 2 years. She has also served as faculty for The Juilliard Summer Percussion Seminar since 2007 - 2010, where she coached percussion ensembles, presented a master class, and managed talented students from all over the world. She regularly works with teaching artists from the New York Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers program to demonstrate percussion instruments to young students.
She is not only an active performer, educator, but also a co-founder/ program coordinator of Multicultural Sonic Evolution (MuSE), a non-profit organization that creates a multicultural environment through sound and collaborations with other artistic disciplines such as dance, theater, and film. MuSE produces concerts and shows covering a wide spectrum of genres from classical to pop, jazz, folk and rock (www.musefriends.org).
With her experience as a timpanist in 2005 & 2006 with The Glassman Drum and Bugle Corps, a frequent finalist for Drum Corps International, she has been invited as a guest instructor/ arranger for several Japanese high school marching bands since 2010.
Her awards include the Zildjian Scholarship 2004~2007, Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship at The Juilliard School in 2007-09, Weekes Memorial Scholarship from the Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps in 2006 and the third prize winner of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) High School Keyboard Competition in 2003.
Outside of performing, Ms.Shibayama is also a freelance ensemble librarian and production assistant. She is currently a librarian for Alarm Will Sound and served as Library assistant for Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New York Pops, The Juilliard School, as well as New York Youth Symphony. She has also been a percussion specialist/ production assistant for Carnegie Hall /Weill Music Institute's National Youth Orchestra of U.S.A. since 2015, helping the orchestra tour multiple cities in Asia, Europe, and South America.
A graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy with a performance award in 2003, Ms. Shibayama earned Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School in 2007 and 2009. Her former mentors include Daniel Druckman, Greg Zuber, Markus Rhoten, Joe Pereira, Roland Kohloff, Keith Aleo, Mariko Okada and John Alfieri. She proudly endorses Pearl Adams Concert Percussion and Dragonfly Percussion.