Shuichi Irie may be soft-spoken and humble about his abilities as a musician, but his accomplishments speak for themselves.
Most recently one of three finalists in a prestigious competition to perform with Western Washington University’s (WWU) Western Symphony Orchestra (WSO), Irie will perform as a special guest this June. Irie has also been accepted into WWU’s music program where he plans to pursue a degree in performance.
Irie’s start in music began in Kobe, Japan, where he developed an interest in piano by watching his sisters learn. In junior high school, Irie joined the band, picking up the saxophone after giving the trumpet a try.
Educated in the classical tradition, Irie honed his skill with arrangements created for saxophone from music by composers such as Debussy, Ravel and Tchaikovsky.
Irie and his partner married in Japan before moving to his partner’s home here in the US. While trying to decide what he would like to do here, Irie enrolled in WCC’s Transitional Learning program for English and Math. Studying music was always a consideration, and in the Winter of 2022, he enrolled in WCC’s music program.
Irie has performed with both WCC’s Student Ensemble and as a student soloist on five different occasions.
He says his strength lies in musicology – the ability to put feeling into the music – yet feels that his technical skills have a lot of room to grow. Irie’s ability to create strong feelings with music is the reason he chose composer Roger Boutry’s Divertimento for his performance with WSO. He said the piece will emphasize his strengths.
“When I listened to that piece the first time, it was so dramatic – beautiful but passionate,” Irie explained. “I love this piece. It is very challenging, but I think I made a good decision.”
Dr. Melanie Sehman, WCC Music Department Chair and one of Irie’s professors, encouraged Irie to apply and audition early for WWU’s Department of Music so he would not have to wait a year before being able to join the sequential class program that begins each fall. He was accepted and is currently enrolled at both WCC and WWU.
Dedication is definitely one of Irie’s character traits. He practices four hours on saxophone and on piano for 30 minutes to an hour every day, admitting that he sometimes feels anxious if he misses a practice.
Irie graduates from WCC in June with an Associate in Music and expects to complete his bachelor’s degree in 2027. He credits his experiences at WCC with giving him the confidence he needed to pursue his ambitions.
“I wasn’t sure how I could grow and how people would see my music level but this is the place I gained confidence, and determined to pursue music,” said Irie. “This has opened the door for me to move farther.”
Irie is the recipient of the WCC 2025 award for Academic Excellence in Music.
Irie will be performing this Weds, April 30 at 12:30 p.m. in Heiner Theater with the Viking Quartet. He said it will be his first non-class related public performance in the US.
Irie’s performance with WSO will be on June 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Western’s Performing Arts Center (PAC).
