Yuri Nakajima
Born in Tokyo, Japan, Yuri had never spoken a word of English when she entered Boston’s Berklee College of Music in 2003. By the time she completed her program as a vocal performance major in 2006, she would be able to speak her heart with both her voice and her newly-acquired second language, English.
Through her study in Boston, she realized how deeply music was intertwined with language and became drawn to inspire fellow Japanese musicians to strengthen their artistry with language mastery. She has translated Japanese localized editions of Alfred Music, Berklee Press (Hal Leonard), Advance Music (Schott Music) publications, worked with Gordon Goodwin (Grammy award-winning Big Phat Band), Cheryl Bentyne (Grammy award-winning The Manhattan Transfer) and Cyrille Aimée for their in-person workshops and webinars.
Since music is her passion, Yuri thrives on new and challenging projects in other music genres. She has been working with German publisher Bärenreiter-Verlag, as a translator for their Urtext workshops throughout Japan, visiting prestigious conservatoires since 2014. She has worked in TV production, adding Japanese subtitles for music-related documentaries broadcast by major networks, as well as facilitating bilingual correspondence between Japanese video game developers and American film composers.
Yuri has also developed her signature program, English Pronunciation Module, for Japanese vocalists, actors, business executives, and public speakers to learn American diction by analyzing the kinetic difference between Japanese and English pronunciation. She has created an exercise routine to release the muscle tension around the jaw, tongue, cheeks and lips. Built through the experience of working closely with award-winning Japanese actors and singers, this exercise aims to facilitate the development of their international careers.
A selection of her works is listed here.
