Mayuko Katakura

Born in Sendai, Japan, the daughter of two jazz musicians, Mayuko Katakura seemingly has jazz in her DNA. She began playing piano at age five, and through her childhood studied mostly classical music. As she got older, Thelonious Monk became her main influence. While still a student at Sezoku Gakuen Junior College, she was invited to join a band with former Berklee faculty member Bob Zung and alumnus Masakiko Osaka. After graduating from Senzoku, Mayuko performed with Seiichi Nakamura, Kazunori Sawada, and many other jazz musicians in Japan. Mayuko came to Boston in the fall of 2003 to study at Berklee and will graduate next year.

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