I (Dorothy Mikiko) am “Ongakka” (the word coined by myself means violinist, composer, artist, public speaker, etc.) .
I was born in Chiba and grew up in Kumamoto, and now I live in Omuta city, Fukuoka.
I have played the violin since I was 5 years old.
After that I also had learned piano thanks to my parents.
I have received a bachelor’s degree in linguistics, and master’s degree in education of children with hearing impairment at each of 2 universities.
Since I moved to Omuta some years after closure of the coal mine here, I have seen this deserted town.
After I quit my first job of at a welfare facility for the challenged in Omuta, I got a new job at an office that we help coalminers and other workers with applications for workers’ accident compensation in this city.
<Main Musical Works and Activities of Performance >
[2010]
After resigning, I established Dorothy Mikiko Music Office in Omuta (I have been a musician since 2009), and
I composed music for violin “Konomu Niisan no Ashiato” (means older brother Konomu’s footsteps (history)” under the theme of Yamaguchi Konomu who was a tanka poet of the Araragi School in Omuta (lived 1895-1920) commissioned by “Omuta Kindai Bungeika Kenshokai “( the association in honor of modern men of letters around Omuta).
I also played it on the violin at the unveiling ceremony of Yamaguchi Konomu monument in Enmei Park in March of 2010 (The Monument was relocated to Suwa Park in Omuta in around July of 2022)
My CD “Hyaku juu yonen no ibuki” (means my violin has been breathing for 114 years) including the above piece has been released all over Japan since June of 2010.
I have begun violin concert tour all over Japan since then.
[2011]
I composed the music for violin “Sekaiisan e Rekishi no daichi ni tatsu Omuta” (means that our history in Omuta will be World Heritage) to make many people interested in World Heritage registration of Miike port, Miike coal mine Miyanohara pit and the remains of Miike coal railway in Omuta city. And I arranged it for different versions for other instruments.
[2015]
Sites of Meiji Japan’s Industrial Revolution including the places above were finally added to the UNESCO’s World Heritage List in July of 2015.
To celebrate it, I had wrote music ” Sekaiisan (World Heritage) Suite ” for the piano trio (piano, violin, and cello), and we played and sold the CD’s in Omuta in November.
[2018]
A benefactor (sponsor) in Omuta had requested me to orchestrate “Sekaiisan e Rekishi no daichi ni tatsu Omuta”(2011) since 2017. In 2018, the new orchestral music “Shin Sekaiisan Omuta” (means New World Heritage in Omuta) was completed, and it was performed first by Meiko Gakuen Junior & Senior High School and Fukuoka Seiryo High School joint Orchestra thanks to the cooperation of many people in April of 2018.
In November, it was also played by combined orchestra consisting 7 senior high school orchestras in Fukuoka Pref. at Fukuoka Senior High School Cultural Festival.
[2019- ]
I have begun Aoi Hachidori Project since May.
[2020]
I composed “Senju no Inori” (means that many people folds their hands in prayer) .
I played it on the violin when the new cenotaph for 458 victims or more of the coal dust explosion at Mikawa Pit of Mitsui Mike Coal Mine in 1963 was built and unveiled on 9th November 2020.
This music was also used as a background at the event of 2nd anniversary of Dr.Nakamura Tetsu’ death in 2021 in Omuta, and played in QR code on the map of Mikawa town in Omuta “Mikawa machikado annainin” (made in 2022).
(the 2nd(2021) version of this piece is included in the CD “Umi Kakeru Aoi Hachidori“<←you can listening part of it> ((means Blue Hummingbird flying over the sea) made by the crowdfunding in 2021.)
I have also played many pieces of music on the violin at memorial services and unveiling ceremonies.
I have finally got over cancer which I got in 2012, and I live cheerfully and calmly, and I am now enjoying Aoi Hachidori Project.
another official website Dorothy Mikiko Music Office (Japanese text only)