Pianist and composer Tomoko Ozawa is a fresh voice from Japan, raised in international settings. A graduate of Berklee College of Music and Longy School of Music, her music crosses genre borders, combining lyricism with European contemporary classical music and rhythmic elements of Jazz. Her debut album “Gentian” accentuates the insightful words of EmilyDickinson with instrumental compositions and playful improvisation, and was produced by her mentor, pianist and composer Vadim Neselovskyi. She was invited to be a guest artist at the annual conference of the Emily Dickinson International Society, and her music has been played on radio and podcasts in the US, UK and the Netherlands.
Tomoko began studying classical piano in Tokyo at the age of six, and spent three years in England during her teens, where she studied with Vanessa Latarche, the Head of Keyboard at the Royal College of Music. While she actively participated in various music festivals there, and won several awards, she was also exposed to differences in race, culture and political thought. This raised questions about her own cultural roots, and she started to question pursuing a career as a classical pianist.
Upon returning to Japan, she studied religions of Japan, philosophy and ethnomusicology alongside majoring in international law at the International Christian University in Tokyo. She picked up piano again during her senior year, this time, improvising and composing through Jazz. She then relocated to Boston to further her studies in jazz composition, graduating from Berklee College of Music in 2014, and completing her master’s degree in Modern American Music from Longy School of Music in 2017. While at Berklee, she encountered different schools of writing techniques: contemporary classical and South Indian music, and began blending those elements in her compositions, and formed her band with the finest young musicians in Boston.
Tomoko is continuing her exploration of creative work with a PhD in Integrated Composition, Improvisation and Technology at the University of California, Irvine. Her recent interests include electroacoustic music with live performance.
"I could hardly describe what I was hearing. […] I rarely heard something so original
and brilliant. The beauty of the melodies, the modest way of using the instruments
make the compositions so strong. This music makes me feel weightless and dreamy.
The music lifts me, brings me to another place, and puts me gently down again. […]
Tomoko Ozawa isn’t just a musician or composer. She is extremely authentic and
creatively talented. I’m astonished by there creative gift to compose music out of
experiences and lyrics, in a way no one does. And what I hear is a pure musicality
from the heart that is real without hidden purposes." - Virginia Music - Jazz Radio
Station (Netherlands)
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"I could hardly describe what I was hearing. […] I rarely heard something so original
and brilliant. The beauty of the melodies, the modest way of using the instruments
make the compositions so strong. This music makes me feel weightless and dreamy.
The music lifts me, brings me to another place, and puts me gently down again. […]
Tomoko Ozawa isn’t just a musician or composer. She is extremely authentic and
creatively talented. I’m astonished by there creative gift to compose music out of
experiences and lyrics, in a way no one does. And what I hear is a pure musicality
from the heart that is real without hidden purposes." - Virginia Music - Jazz Radio
Station (Netherlands)
“Tomoko Ozawa is a fresh voice from Japan, whose music combines lyricism with
European contemporary classical music and rhythmic elements of Jazz.” - Alain Mallet
“It has everything in it - jazz sensibility, elements of romanticism, impressionism, new
classical music, warmth and intimacy of a true singer-songwriter. ” - Vadim
Neselovskyi
“As I listened to her splendid performance, I imagined that I was enjoying music filled
with emotional force and complexities that Emily herself and all of the Dickinsons
would have loved. She made the Evergreens ring once again with the most wonderful,
inspiring music, and the memory is something I will always treasure with a bit of awe
and a smile.” - Martha Nell Smith, President of the Emily Dickinson International
Society
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