Miho Hazama

Born in Tokyo and now based in New York, pianist and composer Miho Hazama has earned acclaim for her intricate big-band and chamber jazz arrangements. She came forward in New York during the 2010s, drawing notice for her ambitious large-ensemble recordings such as the 2012 album Journey to Journey and Dancer in Nowhere from 2018. In 2015 she received the BMI Charlie Parker Composition Prize, while her collaborations have included the Metropole Orkest, Danish Radio Big Band, and WDR Big Band.

Raised in Tokyo, Hazama trained on classical piano and completed a degree in classical composition at Kunitachi College of Music. She relocated to New York in 2010, enrolling at Manhattan School of Music on scholarship and finishing a master’s degree in jazz composition. There she cultivated a refined, forward-looking method for large-ensemble writing shaped by artists including Maria Schneider and by Jim McNeely, with whom she studied at MSM. Her debut album as leader arrived in 2012, presenting the big-band and chamber jazz collection Journey to Journey that featured vibraphonist Stefon Harris. Further recognition followed with the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award in 2011, the 24th Idemitsu Music Award in 2014, and the BMI Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize in 2015.

Also in 2015 she released her second big-band album, Time River. Outside her own discography she has written for Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Ashley Bouder Project Ballet Company, and Morgaua String Quartet. In 2017 Siena Wind Orchestra named her Composer in Residence. Additional work has involved the Metropole Orkest, Ryuichi Sakamoto big band, Danish Radio Big Band, WDR Big Band, and others. In 2018 she issued her third album, Dancer in Nowhere, with the thirteen-piece m_unit ensemble.