In her recently released solo recording, “Yoshiko 2000…”, pianist Yoshiko Yerkes takes her listeners on a journey. It is a musical journey, to be sure, but it is also a journey of the soul-her soul-and we are privileged to be invited along.

Judged on musical merit alone, Ms. Yerkes' performances, recorded on her 1913 Steinway “C”, more than satisfy. Her technical strength is clearly evident in the delicate intricacy of Franz Schubert's Impromptu, Op. 90, and the energetic playfulness of Felix Mendelssohn's Rondo Capriccioso. Beautiful shaping of melodies in Frederic Chopin's Nocturne, Op. 9, No 1, and the dramatic capturing of the many moods of the Ballade, Op. 23, portray not just her understanding, but her obvious love of music of the romantic period. All of this notwithstanding, it is the opening and closing selections of this recording that take us from mere listeners and appreciators of her art, to being given a glimpse of her heart.

Years of searching for meaning in her life have brought Ms. Yerkes, formerly a Buddhist, to her current faith as a born-again Christian. The combining of Claude Debussy's intimately beautiful “Claire de Lune” with a favorite children's hymn, “Jesus Loves Me”, by late Los Angeles composer and friend, Fred Bock, seems to parallel the way in which Ms. Yerkes combines her classical music training with her desire to share her faith through her music. Played with sensitivity and a certain sense of reverence, it is a fitting introduction to the varied classical selections that follow. Following the dramatic final chords of the Ballade, Ms. Yerkes chooses to leave us once again with an expression of her faith and, this time, of her homeland of Japan as well, in an improvised medley of the traditional Japanese folk melody, “Sakura”, and the gospel hymn, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus”. The unlikely marriage of two such widely disparate genres of music, tradition, and philosophy, results, nonetheless, in a hauntingly beautiful conclusion to this most enjoyable recording. It seems to sum up “Yoshiko…”-past, present, and future-in a profoundly personal expression of art, nostalgia, and deep devotion.

(about the reviewer: Kimo Smith earned bachelor and master degrees, magna cum laude, in organ performance from USC and the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from UCLA. His activities as a soloist, lecturer, and accompanist have taken him throughout the US as well as Europe and Asia with touring ensembles and solo artists. He resides with his wife in Loma Linda, CA and is currently Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Keyboard Studies at La Sierra University in Riverside and organist at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood.)