Akiko Sumi
Please click here for the ensemble bio.

Akiko Sumi is a native of Tokyo, Japan, where she studied classical guitar with Kosaku Masuda and Masahiro Ojiri. She began playing guitar at the age of nine, and won first prize at the 1990 Asahi Broadcasting Corporation Guitar Festival Competition. She was also a prizewinner in the 1993 Spanish Guitar Music Competition, the 1996 Nagoya Guitar Competition, and the 1998 Classical Guitar Competition, all of which were held in Japan. Ms. Sumi also received the Governor Awards of Ibaraki and Miyagi Prefectures of Japan in recognition of her musical achievements. Her teaching experience includes being an instructor of classical guitar at the Andante Guitar Music School in Tokyo. This fall, she will join the faculty at The Levine School of Music and The International School of Music both located in Washington D.C. In the recent past, she has gone on to perform in recitals and masterclasses in the U.S. and Japan.

Ms. Sumi has participated in masterclasses with Scott Tennant, Eduardo Fernandez, Wulfin Lieske, Alvaro Pierri, and Sergio Assad. Ms. Sumi received the Bachelor of Biological Science Degree from the Science University of Tokyo in Japan. As a scholarship recipient, she graduated from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University with two Graduate Performance Diplomas in the disciplines of Guitar Performance and Chamber Music. She studied in the studios of Manuel Barrueco and Professor Ray Chester, chair of the guitar department at Peabody. During her time at Peabody, she has received private coachings with renowned artists Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Marina Piccinini, Michael Kannen, Julian Gray, and Phillip Kolker (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Principal Bassoonist).

Ms. Sumi continues to develop her chamber music career as a founding member of the Sumi Guitar Duo and the Aurora Guitar Quartet. Also, her chamber music interests extend to collaborations with flute, strings and vocalists. Recently, she has performed with flutist Boney Lake of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the Guitar Quintet “Fandango” by Boccherini and Quintet Op.2, No.2 by Haydn for guitar and string quartet with Michael Kannen.