![\"Seiji](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Seiji-Yamashita-20-20E-300x200.jpg\")
Seiji Yamashita ’20, ’20E<\/p><\/div>\n
Seiji Yamashita took to the piano quickly at age 5. When he discovered his passion for jazz though at age 14, his teachers made it clear that playing this Black art form came with a responsibility. It wasn\u2019t just about hitting the right notes or mastering a musical technique, it was about finding a voice deep inside that could express the music authentically, creatively, and originally.<\/p>\n
Today, Yamashita continues to take that responsibility very seriously as a jazz pianist and a journalist who is focused on telling stories that give voice to the underrepresented and often unheard.<\/p>\n
As a Japanese American whose parents were immigrants, jazz has always resonated with Yamashita. \u201cJazz is full of feeling, emotion, and purpose\u2014it\u2019s speaks a language that represents a community and resonates with so many people in that community and beyond it,\u201d says Yamashita. \u201cIt\u2019s given me an ideology and a lens through which to view the world. Journalism does that, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yamashita\u2019s time at the URochester\u2014where he majored in international relations at the School of Arts & Sciences and jazz studies at the Eastman Music of School\u2014gave him plenty of opportunities to explore his interests in politics, creativity, and community advocacy and engagement.<\/p>\n
![\"Yamashita](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Seiji-piano-300x237.jpg\")
Yamashita at the piano<\/p><\/div>\n
For instance, Yamashita wrote for the Campus Times<\/em>. He was also part of a K-pop\u2014short for Korean popular music\u2014channel on YouTube. This was where mostly classically-trained Eastman students analyzed the compelling and very popular aspects of K-pop. Eventually that YouTube page accumulated 800,000 subscribers.<\/p>\n Yamashita became an AmeriCorps Urban Fellow, too, which gave him the opportunity to work at an enrichment camp for underserved youth the summer between his sophomore and junior years. He also performed every Sunday at Destiny Preparation Church, a non-denominational, multicultural place of worship on Lyell Avenue in downtown Rochester. He was the keyboard player in the church\u2019s gospel band.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of these experiences helped me get to know the Rochester community\u2014often parts of it that I wouldn\u2019t have known without making the effort to get out there,\u201d he says, noting that the importance of community engagement and service was instilled in him at a young age, through his parents and at his San Jose, California, high school.<\/p>\n Yamashita reporting from a NYC protest<\/p><\/div>\n These experiences gave Yamashita new perspective and shined a light on the struggles and joys of others\u2014all of which were driving forces in his decision to pursue journalism. That wish to become a journalist led him to apply to Columbia University\u2019s Graduate School of Journalism. A few months before his college graduation, Yamashita submitted his journalism school application and a few Campus Times <\/em>stories. <\/em>Just prior to commencement, he opened his acceptance letter from Columbia. He was thrilled.<\/p>\n So, after graduating from the University in 2020, Yamashita went straight to New York City. While attending Columbia\u2019s one-year master\u2019s program, Yamashita soaked in his journalism program and the Big Apple\u2019s prolific jazz scene. And, he pursued telling the stories that were important to him\u2014about race and class; about artists, musicians, and working-class people; and about the government and large systems that all too often leave people behind. This all happened during the pandemic, too.<\/p>\n \u201cThe number of hate crimes and protests held since the onset of the pandemic illustrates the need for more stories\u2014and more compassion for\u2014those who look and live differently,\u201d Yamashita says. \u201cI want my stories to help readers see that there are so many people out there who need to be treated better\u2014it\u2019s really as simple as that. Our world needs to do and be better.\u201d<\/p>\n Learn more about <\/em>Seiji Yamashita<\/em><\/a>. Read more<\/a> <\/i>about research that Ä¢¹½´«Ã½’s computer and political scientists are doing with social media to drill down on anti-Asian hate crimes.<\/i><\/em>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” background_color=”#f4f4f4″ css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1626291270355{padding-right: 125px !important;}”]<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n \u201cThere were\u2014and are still\u2014so many stories to tell about equality, including this one. Natty is a medical student who was called in to help hospitals during Covid. It\u2019s shocking that someone wearing scrubs and a whitecoat would be attacked in an anti-Asian hate incident, but this, in fact, happened,” says Yamashita.<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n![\"Yamashita](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Seiji-journalist-169x300.jpg\")
Videos<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Medical Student Overcomes Trauma from Anti-Asian Attack<\/em><\/h3>\n