Breaking Classical: Erika Dohi 🐳🩵

📸 Erika Dohi

Intro by Sally Choi

In the ever-evolving world of classical music, few artists bridge the past and future as seamlessly as Erika Dohi. Her music transcends traditional boundaries, fusing classical precision with bold innovation and meditative depth.

I first met Erika during my yoga teacher training last summer (2024) with Lighthouse Yoga School held at Meta Yoga in Maryland, and from the moment we connected, I felt the depth of her open heart. The training itself was a deeply introspective experience, yet it also fostered a sense of shared intimacy—every day began and ended with meditation (and was packed in between with nonstop yoga and learning).

One morning, Erika casually rolled in with her keyboard and began playing live music during our morning meditation. It was one of those moments where the energy in the room visibly shifted. At the time, I just thought, “Wow—this is absolutely beautiful.”

📸 Video credit: Marina Ro | Erika Dohi playing live music during YTT at Meta Yoga in Salisbury, MD

It wasn’t until after our training that I truly discovered Erika’s music—and her prominence as a performing artist. I was in awe. That same quiet power I felt during our meditations pulsed through her compositions.

But what really stunned me was seeing her perform live at a new-age art/music show in Tribeca. As she got in front of the audience, before even touching a key, she opened the grand piano and began manipulating its inner strings—plucking and preparing the instrument in ways I've never seen before. Watching her bend and shape the piano’s voice in real time completely shattered my expectations of what classical performance could be. It was wild and it was genius! She continues to stretch the boundaries of what this genre can hold.

I was thrilled to learn she was based in New York, too. Once we returned from our training in Maryland, our friendship deepened. We reconnected in familiar surroundings, sharing our practices and conversations on music, meditation, and creative expression.

For this feature in the Whaleness Club 🐳, I invited Richie—TAT’s resident “Tail-Teller” and “Whale-bassador”—to sit down with Erika for a conversation about her journey, her sound, and the emotional worlds she brings to life through music.

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Interview & Outro by Rich Awn

Richie: Thank you, Erika, for taking the time for this interview. This project is fun—getting to know our friends and talking about their work, motivations, and inspirations. Let’s start with your upbringing. How were things for you as a kid? Were you into music at an early age?

Erika: I started piano when I was three, learning from my mother, who taught lessons at home. I was eager to study and loved the sound of the piano. A lot of people say it’s hard to learn from a parent, but for me it felt natural. I began doing competitions but eventually hit a wall.

My teacher and mom would ask, “Why aren’t you hungry? Why don’t you want to get better and win?” But I just didn’t care that much. My guilty pleasure was singing pop songs by Japanese artists like Utada Hikaru.

📸 Erika Dohi in early years

Richie: Utada!

Erika: Yes! I didn’t speak English yet, but I admired Janet Jackson too. During my teenage years, my best friend Aya and I would record our radio show on minidisc in my piano practice room. We made up a whole show, singing karaoke and talking—a precursor to podcasts.

Richie: Genius.

Erika: It was so fun! Later, I moved to England to study piano. My mom wanted me to get out of the traditional Japanese piano circuit. She found a great teacher by reading a book written by a British piano professor who spoke Japanese. She approached him, and after a mini audition, I was set for an audition at a school in England.

📸 Erika Dohi in junior high school | "My friends threw me a farewell party right before I left for England!"

Richie: Awesome!

Erika: I was 15. Everything happened so fast. I moved in August, and it was a complete life change. I had no idea this life change would become permanent. I’d go back to Japan for holidays, but I was now living and studying at an international school. My world opened up completely. Later, when I moved to New York for music school, I felt a real calling here.

Richie: I can relate.

Erika: Yes! It’s crazy how everything just happened like that. Sometimes, you don’t even stop to consider your journey.

Richie: Do you think—your journey, the sacrifices—has made your music more meditative or emotionally charged? Is there a void you’re filling through your sound?

Erika: Definitely. My background is very unstable.. Not having family around at that age was hard. I think about nostalgia, and grief around lost time, when I write music. Sometimes I feel like I haven’t really grown up.

Richie: Or maybe you grew up too fast.

Erika: Exactly. I had to adapt quickly. When I moved to New York, I auditioned and started performing in prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall—and also at more experimental spots like Sō Percussion studio. Balancing my classical training with improvisational work has been challenging yet rewarding.

Richie: How do you find that balance?

Erika: The two worlds are coming closer together now. I used to struggle with gigs that didn’t really represent who I was, but lately the music I want to play is aligning more with what I feel called to play. I enjoy collaborating with composers and being a sideman too.

📸 Erika Dohi

Richie: You also have a presence in meditation and yoga. When did you first become interested in those?

Erika: My first yoga class was a Bikram class in 2008. Back then, I just wanted to lose weight—not understanding there's a spiritual side. I loved Bikram and later found a teacher, Marco Rojas, who completely shifted my perspective. Living in New York, surviving as a freelancer, the practice became my oasis. I went on his retreat in Panama, and that really deepened everything.

Richie: That sounds amazing!

Erika: It was. I did my teacher training in 2018 in Brooklyn, and that changed my life. I started exploring meditation and pranayama more seriously. Then I moved back to New York in December 2019—and the pandemic hit. I had to face the fear of being alone.

Richie: That’s a serious realization.

Erika: Yes, you can’t escape from yourself. When everything stops, you’re really confronted with who you are. I turned to meditation, and thankfully, Jared McCann from Lighthouse Yoga Studio started offering Zoom classes. In one of those meditations, I felt the presence of everyone in my life —even those who had passed away. That’s your true self. That’s you in a nutshell.

Richie: That’s powerful!

Erika: It was significant. I cried—not from sadness, but from love. Since then, I’ve practiced meditation consistently. Another beautiful side effect I've noticed is that my music has profoundly improved. My focus on stage is on a whole other level.

Richie: How do you handle the harder side of meditation—when intense or challenging emotions surface?

Erika: Jared always says to cuddle your obstacles tenderly. You don’t push them away. You must witness the anger, the grief, the mess. You feel them fully. To heal, you have to be willing to face those things.

Richie: Thank you for that. What’s coming up for you now? New albums or performances? How do we follow you?

Erika: I’m getting ready to release a new album—I just signed with a label and we’re talking timelines this week. I’m also working on a new website, and I’m on Instagram @erikadohi.

Richie: A piano teacher, yoga teacher, sideman, front woman, and meditation guru—you’re amazing! I’ll see you in meditation!

Erika: Thank you! This was wonderful.

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To really get Erika, you have to experience her in person. Whether it’s in a yoga class, her meditation group, or—ideally—one of her live performances, there’s an etheric quality that uniquely radiates from her. Her sound fills the room and immediately shifts the space. There's a quiet intensity, a quivering mystery of pure existence, that draws you in. Her voice is angelic but raw, rising out of the beautiful chaos of her experimental, melodic world.

Erika embodies the rare convergence of musical mastery and spiritual depth, making her a truly unique figure in today’s classical music landscape. Her journey is marked by resilience, intuition, and self-inquiry. And it's shaped not only her sound, but the way she connects with her audiences and students.

As she prepares to unveil new projects and deepen her explorations in both music and meditation, it’s clear that Erika’s resonance will carry far beyond the stage.

Be sure to follow her Instagram @erikadohi for performance dates, album releases, upcoming meditations, and yoga classes. 

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Rich Awn

Edits by Sally Choi