is a Tokyo-born composer and jazz musician, based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

Early life and career

Miho Hazama started to play electric keyboard at the age of three at

Yamaha Music Foundation The Yamaha Music Foundation is an organization established in 1966 by the authority of the Japanese Ministry of Education for the purpose of promoting music education and music popularization. It continued a program of music classes begun by Yamaha ...

's School, and received attention when she proceeded to the final of Junior Electone Concours '96 at the age of ten. Hazama attended and graduated the

Kunitachi College of Music The is a private music conservatory in Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1926 as the Tokyo Conservatory of Music, Kunitachi now offers study programs in performance, music education, composition, computer music, and musicology, for bache ...

, where she studied classical composition from Masakazu Natsuda and . While in the college, she was active in composition and arrangement, and provided her works to Yōsuke Yamashita,

Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra The is recognized as the oldest symphony orchestra in Japan. It was founded in 1911 and debuted at the original Matsuzakaya store in Nagoya as the . It relocated to Tokyo in 1938. As of 2005, it has 166 members. The orchestra plays frequently a ...

Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra The is a professional orchestra in the city of Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Founded concurrently with the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in 2005, the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra (HPAC Orchestra) is under the leadership of ...

Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra The is a professional concert band based in Tokyo, Japan. TKWO has been called Japan's premiere wind ensemble', one of the most influential Japanese wind bands,' and one of the world's leading professional civilian wind bands.' Histor ...

, and . In 2010, Hazama moved to

to study jazz composition in master's program of Manhattan School of Music (MSM). While attending, she studied under

Jim McNeely Jim McNeely (born May 18, 1949) is a jazz pianist, composer, arranger and faculty. Biography Jim McNeely was born in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Illinois, and moved to New York City in 19 ...

, and received 2011

ASCAP Foundation The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

Young Jazz Composer Awards. Hazama obtained her master's degree in May 2012 and recorded her first album ''

Journey to Journey ''Journey to Journey'' is the debut album of Miho Hazama and her chamber orchestra m_unit, released in November 2012. Background This debut album was recorded in July 2012 just after Miho Hazama had got master's degree from Manhattan School of M ...

'' in July 2012. Yōsuke Yamashita produced her professional debut event in January 2013, held at

Tokyo Opera City Tower is a skyscraper located in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Completed in 1996, it stands 234 metres (768 feet) high and has 54 floors. The tower is the third-tallest building in Shinjuku, Tokyo and seventh-tallest in Tokyo. The closest train stati ...

. In May 2017, Hazama became a composer in residence of Siena Wind Orchestra. She was the 2018-2019 composer of the year for the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa. In June 2019, Hazama was appointed as chief conductor of

Danish Radio Big Band The Danish Radio Big Band (aka: DR Big Band), often referred to as the Radioens Big Band is a radio ensemble and big band founded in Copenhagen in 1964 at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). Band history Originally called the New Radio ...

. She is also the Associate Artistic Director of The New York Jazzharmonic. In August 2020, Hazama became a permanent guest conductor of The

Metropole Orkest The Metropole Orkest (Metropole Orchestra) is a jazz and pop orchestra based in the Netherlands, and is the largest full-time ensemble of its kind in the world. A hybrid orchestra, it is a combination of jazz, big band and symphony orchestra. Com ...

Awards and honors

* 2011:

Young Jazz Composer Awards *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

: Jazz Japan Award 2012: "Jazz Japan Album of the year / Rising star category" for ''

'' *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

: 24th (FY 2013) *

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

: BMI 16th Annual Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize for “Somnambulant" * 2016: ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' magazine: “25 for the Future”

Discography

As band leader

* ''

'' with m_unit (Universal Music/ Verve, 2012; Sunnyside, 2013) * ''

Time River ''Time River'' is a studio album by Miho Hazama and her chamber orchestra m_unit, released in September 2015. Background "Under the Same Moon" was originally composed when Miho Hazama was around twenty years old. When Miho was introduced from G ...

'' with m_unit (Verve & Sunnyside, 2015) * '' The Monk: Live at Bimhuis'' with

Big Band (Verve & Sunnyside, 2018) * ''

Dancer in Nowhere ''Dancer in Nowhere'' is an album by Miho Hazama and her chamber orchestra m_unit, released in November 2018. This album was nominated for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. Track listing :''All compositions by Mih ...

'' with m_unit (Verve, 2018; Sunnyside, 2019) *

Marius Neset Marius Søfteland Neset (born 2 January 1985 in Os, Hordaland) is a Norwegian jazz musician (saxophone) living in Copenhagen. He is known from collaborations within the jazz bands "People Are Machines", "Kaktusch", " JazzKamikaze" and Django B ...

, ''Tributes'' with

(

ACT Music ACT is a German record label founded in 1992 by Siegfried Loch. It is a division of ACT + Music Video founded by Loch and Annette Humpe in 1988. ACT started as a pop music label but folded soon after it started. Loch turned it into a jazz label, ...

, 2020) * ''Imaginary Visions'' featuring The Danish Radio Big Band ( Edition, 2021)

Selective compositions and arrangements

* Yōsuke Yamashita,

Yutaka Sado is a Japanese conductor. While still in school, Sado obtained a position in the Kansai Nikikai, a Japanese school of opera, where he had the opportunity to work with the New Japan Philharmonic and the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, learning operati ...

"Yōsuke Yamashita: Piano Concerto No.3 EXPLORER" orchestration in ''Explorer×Sudden Fiction'' ( Avex Classics, 2008) - with

Shirō Sagisu is a Japanese composer, arranger and music producer. With a career spanning over 40 years (beginning in the late 1970s), he is best known for his works as a record producer for acts including various choir members Mike Wyzgowski, Misia, Satosh ...

, ' ( Starchild, 2012) – soundtrack orchestration of '' Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo'' *

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto i ...

, "0322 C# Minor", "Trace", "After All" arrangements in ''Playing The Orchestra 2013'', (commmons, 2013) * Yōsuke Yamashita, Yutaka Sado and , "Mr.O" composition, "Yōsuke Yamashita: Piano Concerto No.1 ENCOUNTER for Improviser, 4th movement" arrangement in ''Rhapsody in Blue'' (Avex Classics, 2014) * Junko Onishi, "The Intersection" composition in '' Tea Times'' (

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

/Taboo, 2016) * Junko Onishi, "Willow Song (from Otello)" arrangement in '' Very Special'' (Sony/Taboo, 2017) *

Raul Midón Raul Midón (born March 14, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from New Mexico. Biography Early life Midón was born prematurely in a rural hospital in Embudo, New Mexico, to parents of Argentine and African-American des ...

, "Everyone Deserves A Second Chance" arrangement in '' If You Really Want'' (

Artistry Music Artistry Music (formerly ARTizen Music Group') is a record label founded by Brian Bromberg, Lucille Hunt, Rahsaan Patterson, and smooth_jazz.html" ;"title="enny Stilwell that specializes in smooth jazz">enny Stilwell that specializes in smooth j ...

, 2018) * Miki Imai, "" arrangement in ''Classic Ivory 35th Anniversary Orchestral Best'' (Universal Music Japan, 2020) * Christian Sands, "Be Water II" arrangement in ''Be Water'' (

Mack Avenue Mack Avenue Records is an independent record label in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. Background Mack Avenue was founded in 1999 by Gretchen Carhartt Valade, a jazz fan and chair of the American apparel company Carhartt. The company is a sponsor ...

, 2020)

References

External links

*
Miho Hazama
at

Sunnyside Records Sunnyside Records is an American jazz record company and label established by François Zalacain in 1982 initially to release an album by pianist Harold Danko. Albums by Kirk Lightsey and Lee Konitz soon followed beginning a sequence of releas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazama, Miho 1986 births Living people Japanese women composers Japanese jazz musicians Musicians from New York City Musicians from Tokyo