Arion Tanabe's Biography

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     Arion's path in the performing arts began at nine years old, where he trained simultaneously in both piano and ballet. In dance, he trained at the Judith Svalander School of Ballet in Crystal Lake, Illinois. For piano, he received private instruction from various teachers in the northern Illinois area. Then in 2000, he became a student of Dr. Kenneth Drake, Professor Emeritus of Piano, at the University of Illinois. 

     Arion started his performing arts career as a professional ballet dancer in 2003. He joined the Milwaukee Ballet II,in Wisconsin, was then hired as a company dancer with the Dayton Ballet, in Ohio, and later joining the Grand Rapids Ballet, in Michigan. At the same time that he was a full-time dancer at those companies, he also accompanied ballet classes and taught ballet at the respective ballet schools. It was also in this time that he started composing piano songs and electronica.

     In 2009, Arion moved to Chicago, focusing on teaching ballet and performing in various local rock bands, throughout the midwest, while continuing to compose on the side. There, he helped produced music and choreography that was featured throughout the Chicago area, as well as, with the Montgomery Ballet, in Alabama. 

     Moving to Phoenix in 2013, Arion continued to teach and accompany dance, while composing music, and performing with rock and blues bands. In 2019, he began his path towards a higher education degree. Further refining his skills in composition, with Dr. Kendra Dercole, the primary music theory teacher for Phoenix college and Dr. Karl Schindler, the director of Phoenix College's Music Department.

     Arion won the 2020 Maricopa Community College Artist of Promise Competition, in the category of Music Composition, for his piece Gesù, L'uccisore di Serpenti, as well as winning in 2021 for piano performance. His choreography was featured as a part of the reopening of the Woodstock Opera house, in Illinois, with several of his choreographed works being performed by students of the Judith Svalander School of Ballet. He is featured in the music recording for Phoenix College Founders Day 100th Anniversary Celebration. 

     Currently he studies composition at Arizona State University, studying under Dr. Jodi Rockmaker, Dr. Fernanda Navarro, Dr. Garth Paine, and Dr. Gabriel Bolaños at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. He is set to graduate with a degree in composition spring of 2023. He is also a music instructor at Kirk's Studio for the Performing Arts in Scottsdale, AZ.