Yoko Miwa

Associate Professor

Affiliated Departments

617-747-6251

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Internationally acclaimed pianist/composer Yoko Miwa is one of the most powerful and compelling performers on the scene today. Her trio, with its remarkable telepathy and infectious energy, has brought audiences to their feet worldwide. Miwa has received critical acclaim and numerous awards from major publications and institutions and is a radio chart-topping artist. Miwa’s musicianship evokes the harmonic finesse and rhythmic brilliance of key influences like Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, McCoy Tyner, and Oscar Peterson. Her expansive, versatile writing presents both a remarkable ear for melody and an earthy, intuitive feel for groove. As a bandleader, Miwa heads one of the finest jazz trios playing today.

“Yoko Miwa has been gifted with both extraordinary musical skills and the pure spirit that is necessary for great art. We love her musical gifts and her beautiful spirit as well,” observed the late jazz pianist and composer Ahmad Jamal.

CD Hotlist calls Miwa "one of America’s finest jazz pianists, composers, and bandleaders” and Jazz Times lauds her "jaw-dropping degree of technique” and her "enviable ability to play in any context with authenticity, clarity, and spontaneity…” DownBeat notes her “impressive technique and a tuneful lyricism that combines an Oscar Peterson-ish hard swing with Bill Evans-like introspection.”

She has also been hailed as “a virtuoso pianist with dazzling technique always in the service of interaction and exchange of ideas” by NYC Jazz Record, and as a pianist who "displays unpretentious melodies, elegant phrasing, and the lyrical sensibility of a jazz poet” by Jazziz.

“I greatly appreciate and respect the clarity and strength in Yoko’s playing. It is very apparent—the honesty, care, and depth of foundation she touches the piano with," adds jazz pianist Benny Green.

Courses Taught (3)

Private Instruction 2

PIMM-600

Private Instruction - Piano: All Levels

PIPN-XXX

Recital Preparation: Piano - All Levels

RPPN-XXX

Career Highlights

Named a Rising Star Pianist in the 2022, 2023, 2024 DownBeat Critics Poll
Performed in the Ahmad Jamal Memorial Concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center with Peter Washington and Calvin Keys
Yoko Miwa Trio’s album “Songs of Joy” hit No. 1 on National Jazz Radio Charts and was voted a Best Jazz Album of 2021 in DownBeat’s 86th Annual Readers Poll
Yoko Miwa Trio’s songs are featured regularly on top official Spotify playlists; her original composition “Sunshine Follows the Rain” was featured on the “Coffee Table Jazz” playlist and currently has 7 million streams
Appearances at major venues include Jazz at Lincoln Center's Coca-Cola Generations in Jazz Festival, Atlanta Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz and Leadership Workshop for the National Urban League’s Youth Summit, The Blue Note in NYC, Birdland in NYC, Dizzy’s Club @ JALC in NYC, Blues Alley in D.C., Scullers Jazz Club, Regattabar, Jimmy’s Jazz and Blues Club in New Hampshire, Litchfield Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival in Japan, The Cotton Club in Tokyo, The Blue Note in Japan, Body and Soul in Tokyo, Marian McPartland's NPR show Piano Jazz
The Yoko Miwa Trio is a resident artist at the Mad Monkfish in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Performances with Sheila Jordan, Slide Hampton, Arturo Sandoval, Peter Washington, George Garzone, Jazzmeia Horn, Jon Faddis, Jerry Bergonzi, Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington, Kevin Mahogany, John Lockwood, Dominique Eade, and Johnathan Blake, among others
Yamaha Piano Artist/Endorser, JVC Victor (Japan) recording artist, Ubuntu Music (UK) recording artist, NEA Panelist
Ellora Management Artist, alongside Ahmad Jamal, Hiromi, and more
Featured in the critically acclaimed film “Beautiful Was The Fight” by Dave Habeeb
The Yoko Miwa Trio has released nine highly acclaimed Albums: In the Mist of Time (Tokuma); Fadeless Flower (Polystar); Canopy of Stars (Polystar); The Day We Said Goodbye (Sunshine Digital); Live at Scullers (Jazz Cat Amnesty); Act Naturally (JVC Victor Entertainment), Pathways (Ocean Blue Tear), Keep Talkin’ (Ocean Blue Tear), and Songs of Joy (Ubuntu Music)

Awards

Winner in the Boston Music Awards 2019 “Jazz Artist of the Year” and 10 nominations
Nominated in the Boston Music Awards “International Artist of the Year”
Nominated in the New England Music Awards “Jazz Act of the Year”
Winner in Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll “Jazz Act of the Year”

In Their Own Words

"I strive to help develop the technique of my students so they have the ability to play what they are hearing in their head, while at the same time helping to develop their vocabulary, hearing, and awareness. I try to encourage my students to be more than prepared so they can be focused on communicating and interacting with the other musicians they are playing with. If you have to use all your concentration to be able to make all the chord changes, play a specific rhythm, or play a unison line, then you're going to miss out on all of that communication and interaction that is essential for group playing."

"I attended Berklee as a student, and I remember the valuable information and experiences I took away from my education here. I've also been blessed to play with some amazing musicians, so I bring those experiences into my teaching, too. You can learn all the notes and have unrivaled technique on your instrument and still miss the mark without being able to relate it to a real-life musical experience. I always make it a point to spend a certain amount of time playing together or even composing with my students, sharing with them the lifelong process of developing what appeals to them and editing what's unnecessary."

"There is so much diversity in the Piano Department. It's such an inspiring environment to be around all the students and teachers. No matter what style of music you're into, the one thing that unifies all of us is our love for music. You are here because music is your life!"

Yoko Miwa

Yoko Miwa Trio "Think of One"