Masako

Masako is a pianist and composer who resides in the Northeastern USA. Since her first album, MASAKO, she has been working with Will Ackerman and Tom Eaton. Every one of her albums either won an award or was nominated for award(s). Her fifth album, Hidden Flowers (2020), was a double-winner ("Album of the Year" and "Best Piano Album w/ Instrumentation") for ZMR Award. Masako started taking piano lessons at the age of four, and started to compose tunes when she was five. 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.