Music of Migiwa Miyajima

In celebration of her 10th anniversary in the U.S., Migiwa “Miggy” Miyajima, an award-winning jazz composer and big-band leader based in New York City, will present a program that reflects her diverse artistic career with her 17-piece jazz orchestra as well as a splendid lineup of guest performers. The concert will showcase not only her signature big band music but also unique collaborations with a Japanese sword-fighting master Kyo Kasumi, an internationally acclaimed jazz saxophonist Steve Wilson, and a Japanese taiko player Midori Larsen. The audience will enjoy five different styles of music, ranging from jazz and classical to popular music. There will also be secret guests from Japan joining the performance.

Miyajima is the recipient of grants and awards including the 2019 Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, the 2020 NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre, and the Creative Engagement Program of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in 2021 and 2023. She is the first Japanese big band leader to headline Birdland (in 2017) since the great Toshiko Akiyoshi in 2003. Other notable venues for her past performances as a bandleader include Jazz at Lincoln Center, Lincoln Center, and Times Square. As a producer, Miyajima worked on five Grammy-nominated albums. As a conductor, she worked with the NEA Jazz Master late Slide Hampton, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra led by legendary Winston Marsalis.