Acclaimed as “a musician of great significance and profound musical expression,”* Ayami Okamura is an internationally recognized marimba and percussion artist, educator, arranger, and composer. Originally from Kyoto, Japan, and currently residing in Germany, she has captivated audiences across the United States, Europe, and her home country.

As a dedicated soloist, Ayami actively commissions and premieres new works, collaborating with renowned composers such as Julie Spencer, Peter Klatzow, Gordon Stout, and David Friedman. Her passion for arranging and composing seeks to broaden the repertoire for marimba, vibraphone, and percussion, drawing inspiration from a diverse range of genres, including classical, modern, traditional, film, and jazz. Ayami’s current solo projects are characterized by thematic storytelling and musical therapeutic qualities, with programs like “Poem of Color” and “The Scenes in Your Own Heart” receiving widespread acclaim in Japan.

Since 2015, Ayami has collaborated with percussionist Dan deSimone in the SHIKI PERCUSSION DUO, focusing on expanding the percussion repertoire through innovative arrangements and compositions. Their current projects include the publication of Georg Philipp Telemann’s “Twelve Fantasias for Viola da Gamba Solo,” transcribed for marimba solo, a fresh arrangement of Simeon ten Holt’s “Lemniscaat” for mallet ensemble, and the anthology project “Harmonize,” which aims to foster a more inclusive and multicultural representation of contemporary percussion music.

In addition to her performance career, Ayami has appeared as a guest artist and faculty member at numerous prestigious international events, including the Southern California Marimba Festival (California, USA), Boston GuitarFest (Boston, USA), Ivana Summer Percussion Festival (Samobor, Croatia), and the Zeltsman Marimba Festival (New Jersey, USA).

She has presented masterclasses at renowned universities and colleges worldwide, including the University of Michigan and the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

As an endorser and artist for Adams Percussion and Balter Mallets, Ayami currently holds a faculty position at Hochschule für Musik Detmold in Germany, where she teaches vibraphone, setup and percussion. Her composition is published by Edition Svitzer (Denmark) and she is a co-founder of the Detmold Percussion Group.

​

Ayami currently lives in Detmold, Germany with her husband Dan deSimone, cooking and trying many new recipes together.

​

​

*Gordon Stout, Professor Emeritus at the School of Music, Ithaca College, composer, G&C Music/Full Circle Publications/StoutWorks, PAS Hall of Fame Inductee 2012