Meg Okura

The New York Times recently described jazz composer and violinist Meg Okura’s music as "grandiloquent beauty that transitions easily from grooves to big cascades to buoyant swing." No. 6 Jazz Violinist/Violist in the International Critics' Poll, Meg Okura blends East and West in modern jazz. Okura dares to combine erhu (Chinese violin) with the harp, bass clarinet, flutes and the soprano saxophone in her Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, a one-of-a-kind jazz group based in Harlem. The ensemble has released four albums- Meg Okura’s Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble (2006), Naima (2010), and Music of Ryuichi Sakamoto (2013), and the Ima Ima (feat. Tom Harrell in 2018). From Lincoln Center to Levitt Pavillion in Los Angeles, Winter Jazz Fest to KL Jazz Festival in Malaysia, Knitting Factory to sold-out concerts in Japan, the PACJE has captivated audiences at home and abroad for over ten years.

A native of Tokyo, Meg Okura made her U.S. solo debut with the late Alexander Schneider’s New York String Orchestra at the Kennedy Center as a 19-year old concert violinist. With her two suitcases and a violin, she moved to New York City and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in violin performance from The Julliard School. Advancing her career as a jazz violinist while at the Henry Mancini Institute in Los Angeles, Okura was soloist and the concertmaster for the orchestra backing up Herbie Hancock, Shirley Horn, Diana Krall, and Terence Blanchard, under the batons of music icons as Quincy Jones, Jerry Goldsmith, and Jack Elliot.

Okura has received the Grammy nomination as the violinist on the album Second Half by the Emilio Solla y la Inestable de Brooklyn in the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Okura has also appeared on several dozens of recordings with a wide range of artists including David Bowie, Lee Konitz, Diane Reeves, Sam Newsome, Jesse Harris, and Ziggy Marley. She has toured internationally with the late Michael Brecker, Steve Swallow, Tom Harrell, appearing at venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Barbican, Madison Square Garden, Village Vanguard, Blue Note Tokyo, Hollywood Bowl and at numerous festivals and concert halls around the world. In 2016, Okura held a week-long residency at the Stone in New York City, performing and presenting 12 concerts with her ten different groups.

Okura is a recipient of numerous grants and awards including the most recent (TBA), New Music USA Project Grant, Metlife Creative Connections Grant (Meet The Composer), Brand Personality Award (Asia Pacific Brands Foundation), Jerome Composers Commissioning Program (American Composers Forum). Okura's credit as a composer and arranger appear on several film and television programs such as The Congregation (documentary) and Louie (TV series). She has also composed for the New York Symphonic Ensemble, Sirius String Quartet, and C. Eule Dance.

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Album Review

Naima by Dan McClenaghan
Naima by Dan Bilawsky
Naima by Raul d'Gama Rose
Music of Ryuichi Sakamoto by Neri Pollastri
NPO Trio - Live at the Stone by Troy Dostert
IMA IMA by Dan Bilawsky

Bandcamp Daily "There are some stunning moments on this set from the NPO Trio of violinist Meg Okura, saxophonist Sam Newsome, and pianist Jean-Michel Pilc. Their music is a balancing act between cohesion and chaos, allowing the music to fall into one of those states while still grasping tight to its counterpart. This sense of everything coming apart at the seams creates the most intoxicating tension as the balance of power shifts back and forth. The intensity is magnified by corresponding changes in influence, from avant-garde to classical to Yiddish to modern post-bop. Recorded at NYC’s The Stone back in 2016, the electricity of the live performance comes through strong, and the presence of this music is immense." (Dave Sumner)

All About Jazz “From Asia to Africa and the Americas, and from classical to jazz—via the inspiration of electronic music—Okura sees beauty everywhere and translates it into her own exquisite idiom.” (Ian Patterson)

New York Times

“Ms. Okura’s vibrant, Eastern-influenced, jazzy score and the playing of her musicians were the most sophisticated parts of the work” (Roslyn Sulcas)

All About Jazz

“…chamber jazz has found its queen in Meg Okura.” (Dan Bilawsky)

Jazz Times

“…a stunning improvisation on top of an impressionistic backdrop.” (Bill Milkowski)

Birmingham Times

“Naima is the magnificent new release from violin virtuoso Meg Okura and the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble. Captivating, exciting and refreshing are just one way to describe the track offerings that are featured. Aptly named after one of John Coltrane’s famous compositions, Naima is marvelously diverse mixing the past, present and future.” (Esther Cailens)

Sea of Tranquility

“Okura has made a bold statement with Naima, ensuring her place among the top names playing chamber jazz.” (Jon Neudorf)

EJazz News

“A confident collection of chamber jazz that is wide in scope and deep in feeling…features outstanding solos by Okura.” “Meg Okura offers a clear sense of vision of her world of music. Okura's Naima goes to many places, speaks in many voices, and is often rich with surprises and admirable in its aspirations.” (Mark Hayes)

New York Times

“…(Meg Okura ) is equally comfortable playing classical chamber music, rock and everything in between.” (Stephen Holden)

All About Jazz

“… (some of) the best jazz New York has to offer.” (Elliot Simon)

Down Beat Magazine

"... mixes a classically trained mastery of strings, piano and drums with quick-witted compositional twist performed with high energy." (Jennifer Odell)

New York Sun

“The group delivers exactly what its name promises… the group found a common ground in '60s-style modality, occasionally reminiscent of John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner's Eastern explorations.” (Will Friedwald)

All About Jazz

“…elegantly intertwine(s) elements of classical, jazz and world folk into a new sound…by presenting precisely played ethnically inspired original compositions in an exciting modern jazz context.” (Elliot Simon)

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Primary Instrument

Violin

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Clinic/Workshop Information

Meg Okura has conducted clinics and lecture concert programs for the past three years, creating unforgettable memories for over 10,000 students of all ages across the United States.

“Jazz Violin and Improvisation Workshop”
A program for students of all levels to learn the secrets of improvisation. The program will de-mystify the process of improvising by showing the basic methods for improvising, while students having a ton of fun. The program includes brief demonstrations of various styles of improvisation

Meg Okura

Awards