Tatsuya Yoshinaga is a drummer/percussionist/multi-instrumentalist, who has experienced several different musical styles and received a full tuition scholarship that included the Zildjian Award to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Tatsuya was born in Shizuoka, Japan in 1980. At age three, Tatsuya began learning classical piano. In elementary school, he started to play the organ and taiko drums, and would perform at local music festivals every year.
In 1996, Tatsuya was given the opportunity to play keyboards in a local rock band, and shortly after, started sitting in on drums, launching his career as a drummer. His interest wasn’t just in the drums though, and so he started to explore other instruments. In 1997 he started learning to play the guitar and bass guitar.
In 1999, Tatsuya met a drum teacher who had studied with Alan Dawson, and he started studying jazz drumming with him. Later that year, Tatsuya was invited to a local Latin/Funk big band where he had a chance to sit on the drum chair, and also began playing (learning) Alto sax and violin.
Tatsuya won the Berklee World Scholarship Tour in Tokyo in 2003, and passed the "Certificate for Students Achieving the Proficiency Level of Upper Secondary School Graduates" to enroll at the prestigious Berklee College of Music.
At Berklee College of Music, Tatsuya specialized in the drum set and studied with… Yoron Israel, Kenwood Denard, Mike Mangini and John Hazilla. He also studied orchestral percussion with… Dean Anderson, Richard Flanagan and Ed Saindon, hand percussion with… Ricardo Monzon (Ricardo was a member of the Tatsuya Yoshinaga Band), and Jamey Haddad, performance studies with… Joe Lovano, Greg Hopkins, Hal Crook, Ken Pullig, Dave Samuels, Ken Cervenka, Dave Weigert, piano studies with… Douglas Johnson, bass studies with… Tom Appleman and Fernando Huergo, and among others.
Achievements at Berklee:
Performed with the Fenway Brass Art Orchestra, Phil Wilson Trombone Band, at the Singers Showcase at the Berklee Performance Center (BPC), with the Berklee Rainbow Big Band, Brian Lewis Big Band and among others... Tatsuya was also featured at the Percussion Department Award Winners Concert at the BPC where he was awarded the Zildjian Award. Not only did Tatsuya display exceptional talent, but he also has a very strong and determined work ethic which earned him a spot on the Dean's List every semester while at Berklee.
Tatsuya led the College's official recitals every semesters, two of them passed auditions and were led at the BPC, and the recording of his BPC show won him an audition that eventually let to his senior recital at the David Friend Recital Hall, something rarely done by a student. His band was comprised of x members, one of which was a faculty member at Berklee. The special guests on hand included Debbie Zildjian and Adam Weems from the Avedis Zildjian Company, as he is the recipient of the Zildjian Award. He was also honored with an introduction by Yoron Israel, the Assistant Chair of Percussion Department at Berklee College of Music.
As a percussionist:
Tatsuya had the opportunity to perform with the Metrowest Symphony Orchestra and Young Artists Association, Inc (Pit orchestra). He was the principal percussionist with the Berklee Contemporary Wind Orchestra, the College’s Repertoire Orchestra, and the Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra, Berklee’s first full symphony orchestra. These experiences allowed him to perform with many other distinguished musicians, including: Eguie Castrillo (percussion), Tiger Okoshi (trumpet), Stephen Webber (turntables), and more...
As an author:
Tatsuya was selected to write a drumming book by Shinko Music Entertainment Corporation one of the largest and most famous entertainment company, and produced "Drumming the easy way" by Tatsuya Yoshinaga, (Currently only available in Japanese) in November 2006. The book was sold out in a year and reprinted.
He recently graduated in May 2008, and is currently working on bass, percussion and drum-set performances. He is also working with his own band "XTY" Tatsuya Yoshinaga Band, which is preparing for a tour.
