Pianist Jason Loke started playing relatively late at the age of 14. He made up for lost time through sheer hard work and countless hours of practice, sometimes practicing until 3 am or for 12 hours in a day. Originally from Kailua, Jason spent 10 years in San Diego and Los Angeles furthering his musical education and piano performance. He earned his Business and Finance degree from the University of San Diego, yet his passion for learning and growing in piano performance, piano technique, and teaching has never stopped.
Jason has a solid technical foundation in the Taubman Approach which focuses on rotation, efficiency of movement, tone production, and removal of all detrimental tension in playing. Having been injured in sports many times growing up, this approach has helped tremendously to still be able to play and eventually completely heal from all injuries.
Jason has performed often in recitals, weddings, church, and most recently his solo recital given at the Manoa School of Music & the Arts. He loves and studies a diverse repertoire ranging from Scarlatti, Handel, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt, Chopin, Schumann, Debussy, Ravel, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Medtner, Tchaikovsky, Godowsky, Kancheli, Silvestrov all the way to jazz, church music, video game music, movie music, and anime music.
Jason is also passionate about martial arts (muay thai & jiu jitsu) and freedive spearfishing. An avid waterman since he was a toddler, he regularly enters the ocean for hours on end to bring home dinner to share with his family and friends. In addition to teaching piano, he has a career in personal finance, insurance, and the preservation of capital.
His diverse background in interests and education helps him relate to each student and problem-solve through the many challenges of playing piano. Each student is seen as unique and as an individual, therefore his teaching caters directly to their individual strengths and personality.
He’s passionate about teaching children and young adults because he believes playing piano adds a dimension to their lives that’s hard to find elsewhere. The goal of course is always to learn how to improve and play better over time but have fun doing it. Because Jason believes if you’re ‘playing’ piano then it should include some enjoyment along the way through continuous improvement.