Masako, Pianist and Composer
Masako is a pianist and composer who resides in the Northeastern USA. Since her first album, “MASAKO,” she has been working with the legendary Will Ackerman and Tom Eaton for production of her albums. Every one of her albums either won an award or was nominated for award(s). Her fifth album, “Hidden Flowers,” was released in June, 2020, and won two ZMR awards: Album of the Year and Best Piano Album with Instrumentation.
Her newest album, “Wanderlust” was released in 2021.
READ OUR REVIEW OF WANDERLUST HERE
Masako started taking piano lessons at the age of four, and already started to compose tunes when she was five years old. She had the privilege of being a student of Ms. Yuko Yamaoka, a legendary piano teacher who was a judge for the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, and a vibrant and brilliant performer in her own right.
Ms. Yamaoka had a unique style in training her disciples. Sometimes she would have the student stand by the piano and express through body movement what the piece is about, even before actually starting on a new piece. Her belief was that you need to first internalize the music with your whole being and live it so you will play from within, not just with your fingers.
Masako prefers listening to musicians with a truly distinctive voice regardless of music genre. Besides New Age genre, she listens to Clare Fischer, Steely Dan, and a couple of R & B artists including Earth, Wind and Fire, and King year round.
Masako understands the solo piano genre, in terms of music history, to be one of the instrumental versions of singer-songwriters. While keeping the heritage of the solo piano genre, she wants to keep exploring to find new world of beauty.
