Masa Ishikawa

Dr. Masa Ishikawa

Dr. Masa Ishikawa

Assistant Professor, Jazz Piano

Originally from Fukushima, Japan, Masa Ishikawa grew up in a city called Aizu Wakamatsu. He came to the United States in 2003 to begin his formal musical training in Seattle, Washington. As a pianist, Masa has performed at various jazz festivals and concerts in Italy, China, Japan, and the United States. Masa enjoys interacting and cultivating meaningful relationships with listeners and other musicians through performing music.

Masa is also passionate about crafting music with various instrumentations. In 2019, Masa released his first studio album titled Dialogue, which consists of ten original compositions written for vibraphone, piano/keyboards, acoustic bass/electric bass, and drums. In summer 2023, Masa released his 2nd original trio album title Montage as well as the 3rd original sextet album titled First Note. Several of his compositions have been published from UNC Jazz Press.

In March 2021, Masa collaborated with Eien Hunter (taiko drums/shinobue) on his composition Haseru to commemorate Japan's 2011 tsunami and earthquake tragedy. He also premiered Suite for the Forgotten (jazz orchestra with strings) in 2015. The music is dedicated to people who are currently living in Fukushima under the uncertain health impact of the radiation exposure from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants meltdown in 2011.

In his free time, Masa enjoys learning languages, cooking, playing Shogi (Japanese chess), as well as taking pictures of various nature.