Kana Miyamoto Bio

KANA MIYAMOTO

Long Bio

Kana Miyamoto is a flutist, educator, and composer based in New York City, originally from Chiba, Japan. In 2024, she won 1st place in the National Flute Association (NFA) Jazz Artist Competition and became a member of the Recording Academy. Kana currently teaches flute at the New York Jazz Workshop and is a Meyers Pickup Artist. Recently, her flute quartet score, "Songs for Flying Penguins," arranged by Atsushi Kotani, was released in Japan.

Kana has performed at renowned venues including The Jazz Gallery, 55 Bar, ShapeShifter Lab, Bowery Ballroom, Nublu, and Barbes. She has collaborated with musicians such as Frank LoCrasto, Rogerio Boccato, Moto Fukushima, Lew Tabackin, Ron McClure, Richie Barshay, Franco Pinna, Arta Jekabsone, Sammy Weissberg, Mellisa Almaguer, June McDoom, Crystal Rose, and Catbuscollective. She has also contributed to recordings with The Cradles, Kristine Leschper, and Brad Dutz, and has been featured in The New York Times, All About Jazz, Rolling Stone, and Pitchfork.

Kana has been invited as a leader/soloist to perform at prestigious events such as the Friday Night Concert Series at the Residence of the Ambassador at the Consulate General of Japan in New York, The Moth Gala at Spring Studio, and the Swing into Spring Jazz Festival as Kanacept at the Jazz Loft in Stony Brook. In 2021, she received the "Good Practice Award 2021" from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, where she was part of the curatorial team for “Re: Open Jam at Japan Village” to aims to celebrate and support the restart of Japanese musicians who were impacted by the pandemic. Kana was also a winner of the NFA Jazz Masterclass Competition in 2022.

Kana began her musical journey at the age of 15, moving to the United States as a recipient of the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Overseas Study Program for Artists. While attending high school, she began her studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and later transferred to Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. After graduating, she returned to Japan to attend Tokyo College of Music, studying under Yoshio Saito and Sayaka Kaneno, Kazuhiro Iwasa. During this time, she performed regularly as a soloist and recording flutist, as well as in orchestral, chamber, jazz ensemble, and big band settings. She worked with artists such as Naoki Sato, Kiminori Atsuta, Rick Overton, Akira Naito, and Megumi Otani, among others. Kana was a member of the Tad Wind Symphony Orchestra in 2012-2015.

In 2014, Kana relocated to New York City to attend The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music on a Dean's Scholarship. There, she studied with Steve Cardenas, Billy Harper, Vic Juris, Armen Donelian, Jamie Baum, and Marko Mommaas.

In 2017, Kana released the album "Spring Doze" with her band Kanacept. The album was featured in the jazz magazine "The Walkers" and broadcast on New York’s WNYC-FM, followed by a successful Japan tour in 2018. Kanacept’s second mini-album, "Dancer in the Galaxy," was released in 2020, and "In the Forest ~ flute and kora field recording project~" was released in 2021, recorded with kora player Yasuhiro Sakairi in a forest in Japan.

Short bio

Kana Miyamoto is a New York-based flutist, educator, and composer originally from Chiba, Japan. Kana won 1st prize in the National Flute Association Jazz Artist Competition in 2024 and was a winner of the National Flute Association Masterclass Competition in 2022. She has also been awarded the "Up-and-Coming Artist Overseas Training" grant by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in Japan and the City Corps Grant administered by the New York Foundation for the Arts.

In 2014, Kana moved to New York to pursue a performance degree from The New School. She has since graced the stages of prominent venues such as The Jazz Gallery, 55 Bar, The Jazz Loft, The ShapeShifter Lab, and Nublu, collaborating with international musicians including Frank LoCrasto, Rogerio Boccato, Lew Tabackin, Ron McClure, Richie Barshay, and the Tad Wind Symphony in Japan . Kana released her band Kanacept's debut album ‘Spring Doze’ in 2017, which received reviews from The Walkers and WNYC-FM, followed by a successful six-city tour in Japan in 2018. Their second mini-album, ‘Dancer in the Galaxy,’ was released in 2020, and ‘In the Forest ~ flute and kora field recording project~’ in 2021.

Kana is an educator at the New York Jazz Workshop, a 2024 Recording Academy member, and has performed at events including the Japanese Consulate’s Friday Night Concert Series, The Moth Gala, and the Swing into Spring Jazz Festival. Kana has studied with Steve Cardenas, Billy Harper, Vic Juris, Armen Donelian, Jamie Baum, and Marko Mommaas, Yoshio Saito, Sayaka Kanneno, Kazuhiro Iwasa.

Flute;JohannesHammig/Muramatsu flute/ Alto flute: Sankyo

Pick up: Myers Pickup the feather

Recordings

2021 Kanacept “Dancer in The Galaxy”

2017 Kanacept ''Spring Doze”