About me
Sumie Kaneko
Japanese koto and shamisen player
Vocalist
Sumie (Sumi-é) Kaneko is a Yamada school licensed koto and shamisen (sangen) performer and vocal artist. Her career started in 1995 as a winner of the Takasaki International Competition in Koto performance. In 2002 after graduating from Tokyo National University of the Arts, Sumie moved to Boston and studied jazz vocal at Berklee College of Music. She has performed at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Blue Note NY, TED talk, Google, Getty Center, Hollywood Bowl, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Boston, and in 2024 September, she performed Dai Fujikura’s shamisen solo piece “Neo” for The American Ballet Theatre’s company premiere at David H. Koch Theater Lincoln Center in New York City.
As an educator, she has lectured at large academic scenes: Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Rhode Island School of Design, Wellesley College, Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, Texas A&M University and more.
She is renowned for her ability to collaborate with a diverse range of international artists: Pulitzer Winner Paula Vogel, composer Evan Ziporyn, taiko artists Kenny Endo, tabla player Tanmoy Bose, jazz saxophonist Lew Tabackin, and currently in 2024, a commissioned work with jazz pianist Nik Bärtsch is being created.
