Sumiko Sato is a Composer/Pianist and Japanese native, who finished her doctorate at the University of Washington (Seattle, USA) in composition. She performs and arranges contemporary/classical works in diverse styles, also improvises freely. Often inspired by nature, she attempts to create music, with simple language and unorthodox approach. Her interest is integrating folk materials into her compositions for film, dance and theatre.
Since the great earthquake and tsunami hit her home Iwate in 2011, she has been focusing on creating music using traditional music of Iwate, where suffered greatly from the disaster. Sato’s 2013 album “Lotus” was produced with thoughts of the victims of the earthquake, wishing the rebirth of the afflicted areas of Iwate. In 2017 she released an album based on “Sakaya Uta”– traditional work songs of Sake brew masters collected in Iwate, supported by Jack Straw Cultural Center. These songs are on the verge of extinction, due to the mechanization of the breweries. She hopes to preserve them and hand them down to the next generations, also to evoke the breath of the local musical traditions among musicians and listeners.
