Meg Okura

Meg Okura is a jazz composer and a Grammy-nominated violinist based in New York, known for her music praised by the New York Times as "grandiloquent beauty that transitions easily from grooves to big cascades to buoyant swing." As a Tokyo native, Okura's journey in the U.S. began with a solo concerto debut at the Kennedy Center in 1992. She earned B.M. and M.M. degrees from the Juilliard in violin performance, and has performed at esteemed venues worldwide, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Hollywood Bowl. Dubbed "the queen of chamber jazz" by All About Jazz, Ms. Okura leads her Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, performing at venues like Birdland Jazz Club and Blue Note. Her Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble’s fifth album, featuring Randy Brecker, is also in the works. Additionally, Okura is the musical director and arranger of the Sakamoto Tribute Ensemble, dedicated to performing works by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Okura began her musical journey as the soloist and concertmaster of the Asian Youth Orchestra in her teenage years. Her classical chamber music composition, "Phantasmagoria," will be performed at the LunART Festival on June 1, 2024. Okura is the winner of the 2023 ISJAC (International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers) Fundamental Freedoms Commission Prize, whose premiere will take place on May 18, 2024, at Vanderbilt University.