Heard on ABC Network's "20/20 Special" and at the Lincoln Center, composer Makia Matsumura has been enjoying her career in divergent fields: from soundtrack to concert music, pops or jazz to classical, electric to acoustic, music clubs to symphony halls.
The highlights of 2008 include US debut performances as a silent film pianist at the Cinefest 2008! in Syracuse, followed by a NY debut performance at "Meet the Music Makers" series by New York Public Library; a premiere of a new chamber piano concerto in New York City (Ashes of Vengeance: A Rhapsody, 1st track in the Music Player above - Manhattan Chamber Orchestra conducted by Michel Galante, with soloist Assaff Weisman); and a new live score for a 1941 Superman animated short "The Mechanical Monsters" for Filmusik: The Superman Orchestra project.
The highlights of 2007 include a collaboration with a Japanese animator and long-time friend Sachiyo Watanabe to create a new score for Watanabe's animated short for Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), Japan's national public TV; a new solo marimba piece's premiere by percussionist and another long-time collaborator Haruka Fujii at the Zeltsman Marimba Festival 2007 in Appleton, WI; and participation as one of the two "aspirant pianists" in the Pordenone Masterclasses, a renowned program "to share the experience and techniques of our resident musicians with new, young aspirants in the art of film improvisation", part of the Pordenone Silent Film Festival in Pordenone, Italy (her interview during the Masterclasses has been aired as part of BBC World Service's "On Screen").
A native of Tokyo, Japan, Makia started her studies of piano and composition at the age of six. At the age of eight, she performed her first solo piano pieces in public as a member of "Junior Original Concert" activity by Yamaha Music Foundation. Since the age of twelve, she performed her original music extensively in and outside of Japan: her appearance has included concerto performances on piano with established orchestras such as the Hungary National Symphony, the Berlin Great Radio Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and the Kyoto City Symphony Orchestra, at world’s renowned venues such as Musikferein in Vienna, Austria, Schauspielhaus in Berlin, Germany, the NHK Hall in Tokyo and the Symphony Hall in Osaka, Japan, among others. Makia was a featured pianist/composer at the master classes of those notable musicians such as Mustislav Rostropovich, Rodion Schicedorin, and Henri Deutileux, among others.
After receiving her Bachelor's degree in composition from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Makia came to the US to further her studies at The Juilliard School in New York City. While at Juilliard, she has won numerous prizes including "First Hearing" competition by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Juilliard's Composition Department Competition, and full scholarship as a composer/arranger at the Henry Mancini Institute. She was also one of the first recipients of "Yamaha Music Support Program: Musical Activities Support", a prestigious grant annually offered by Yamaha Music Foundation, in support of her film/TV scoring activities.
She has studied composition with Christopher Rouse, Samuel Adler, Edward Bilous, Mari Kimura, Jack Smalley, and Atsutada Otaka; piano with Haruhi Hata and Yoko Yamashita. In 2004, She was on faculty at the Lehman College (City University of New York), teaching music history and music technology.
Holding her master's degree from The Juilliard School, Makia currently resides in New York City, regularly working on new works for chamber music groups and individual instrumentalists from around the world, as well as serving as accompanist, producer, coordinator, and beta tester for notation software Sibelius.
Upcoming engagements include live piano accompaniment for silent films at the Cinefest 2009! in Syracuse in March 2009; new solo piano piece commissioned by Koji Attwood, winner of the S&R Foundation's S&R Founders Award, to be premiered in Spring 2009; and collaborations with New York- and Tokyo-based directors, producers and productions.
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Makia is also active as founding member and pianist/composer of m2duo, a NYC-base electro-acoustic unit with violinist Machiko Ozawa:
Hello Makia, We wish you the very best in your career.
Thanks so much for the Add and the nice comment. We have found such wonderful new expressions of many musical idioms here on MySpace and yours is a beautiful addition to it all. Of course, we hope you and your friends enjoy our music, too. Onward and Upward with Music! Thom & Lorry Gambino New York, New York
HELLO MAKIA MATSUMURA, THANKS FOR THIS WONDERFUL MUSICAL TRIP. I SPENT A VERY NICE TIME IN YOUR SPACE. THANKS FOR THE ADD. SEE YOU SOON. CHEERS. MOLECULE. (paris)
Hey Makia, thanks for finding me! It's been a very long time, how are you? Your tracks are great - esp. that orchestral piece that you now seem to have taken off the player...would love to hear that in entirety sometime, and see the score! Sounds really good. All best, LL
Online Now!
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