Piano faculty member Sarah Takagi presents Trance: An audio-visual journey with original improvisation on piano to interactive fractal visualizations. An hour of meditative, trance like music with a touch of sci-fi, new age, and classical romantic.

With her most recent show “Un-Leashed”, Takagi emerged as a daring artist who is unafraid to explore uncharted territory to express her unique visions with the world.

In this show, she presented herself as pianist, improviser, speaker, dancer, choreographer, director and producer of a multi-disciplinary vision. Her performance of the Beethoven 32 variations was followed by hula hoop dance and martial arts performance. The Haydn sonata was transformed into triparte creation with vaudeville choreography, hiccups, and free improvisation. The Debussy preludes were presented with a grand two piano improvisation; Chopin waltz with dancers and bongos. As a speaker, she introduced the audience to chakras, and spoke about it’s function and evolution in music history. She brought back the importance of “play-full-ness” with angel wings, wands, and glow sticks. She improvised on the piano with glow sticks! She brought the show to a grand finale by playing with a jazz sextet and continuing on to swing dancing and inviting the flash mob swing dancers and the audience to join her. 

Underneath it all, was her message; the importance of “un-leashing” or “un-shedding” ourselves from layers of fear and social conditioning that may prevent us from pursuing our passion and being our full, authentic selves. The show represented her own “un-leashing” journey and ever since, she has allowed herself to be seen as her multi-dimensional self.

In the past several years, her emerging self has been most prominent as an improviser and composer. As an improviser, she has been performing locally at many different shows most notably with Energy Theater and Mystic Art shows. As a composer, her most recent work for solo piano, “Ocean Voices” was premiered at Roy Barnett hall, University of British Columbia as part of the Peter Wall Institute for planetary healing.

As a speaker, she has given frequent talks on the subject of voice and spirituality, chakras, and empowerment as part of Energy Theater.

“Riveting, electric and powerful”; “Brilliant pianist . . . who exudes spirit, vehemence and power”.   Since making her debut with the orchestra at age 11, Sarah has performed numerous concerts in the U.S., Canada and Japan.

Nationally, Sarah has performed at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C. and at Carnegie Hall in New York.  She has been invited to appear with Leon Fleisher as a soloist on the PBS show “Musical Encounter”, as well as on WGMS Radio’s “Spotlight Hour” broadcast.

In Boston, Sarah has played on the “Musique a Midi” series at the French Library, as a soloist on the Lexington Sinfonietta Subscription Series, and in frequent concerts at Jordan Hall.  Her concerto work includes appearances under the batons of BSO assistant conductors Carl St. Clair and Pascal Verrot, as well as Hisao Watanabe and Yoichi Udagawa. Dedicated to new works, she has premiered Leon Kirchner’s “Piece for Orchestra”, Koussevitsky-Prize winning composer Suguru Goto’s “Kinesta”, as well as a commissioned work by a noted female French composer, Florentine Mulsant.

Sarah has also won many competitions, including the Beethoven Society Competition, Friday Morning Music Club competition, Bernard Jacknin Memorial competition, the Messiaen Competition, the Tourjee award at the New England Conservatory and the Janet Gates Peckham International Prize for Excellence.  She has been invited to play in the Contemporary Improvisation’s Messiaen Festival, and her recording of the works of Messiaen can be heard on WGBH.