📍 Minneapolis, Minnesota
Eri Isomura is a freelance percussionist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is a founder and co-executive director of 10th Wave Chamber Collective, a Twin Cities-based ensemble dedicated to performing contemporary classical music by today’s composers. She has been an Ensemble Artist of Heartland Marimba since 2019.
Eri has performed in a variety of musical styles with groups such as the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, Theater Mu (“AGAIN” 2023, “Blended Harmony” 2024), Cantus, National Lutheran Choir, Zeitgeist, and more. Her discography includes the album “Twelve Months in Minnesota” (2023) featuring percussion solos composed by Asuka Kakitani, “Musical Moments for Cello and Marimba” (2021) with her father Sachiya Isomura (former cellist of the Minnesota Orchestra), and the pop-classical album “Champagne Confetti” (2023). She has premiered works by Michael Maiorana, AJ Isakson-Zvidzwa, Michael Betz, Asako Hirabayashi, and many others.
As an educator, Eri was percussion faculty at St. Olaf College (2018-2023) and taught percussion classes at Yinghua Academy. She currently serves as the President of the Percussive Arts Society Minnesota Chapter and is a Percussion Seminar Instructor and Section Coach for the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies. She has been a guest clinician at the Minnesota Percussion Association, MacPhail Percussion Showcase, and Concordia College Percussion Day, and has adjudicated competitions and solo/ensemble events. She has also appeared as a guest on music podcasts such as Pete’s Percussion Podcast and Haydn Behind the Music Stand.
Eri’s diverse musical background began with classical piano studies with Jean Krinke and percussion studies with Robert Adney. She continued her percussion and marimba studies with David Hagedorn, and drumset studies with Phil Hey at St. Olaf College, where she received her B.M. in Percussion Performance with Distinction in 2011. She then completed her M.M. in Percussion Performance at The Boston Conservatory, studying under Keith Aleo, Doug Perkins, Samuel Z Solomon, and Nancy Zeltsman.
Eri is endorsed by Innovative Percussion and Koide Cymbals.
She gives thanks to God for the wonderful opportunities in music and the vital support of her loving family and friends.
