Asuka Kakitani

Japanese-born New York City-based jazz composer/conductor Asuka Kakitani is fast becoming a notable presence on the modern jazz big band scene. Her recent awards include the BMI Foundation’s 2006 Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize, the prestigious Manny Albam Commission in 2007, Composer Assistance Grant from the American Music Center in 2009 and 2010. Her music has been performed internationally at such events and venues as International Association of Jazz Educators Conferences, Fairbanks Summer Art Festival in Alaska, Merkin Concert Hall in New York. Asuka’s compositions have been recorded by Boston’s Jazz Revelation Records and by the Japanese big band, Global Jazz Orchestra, and have been performed at Berklee College of Music, Susquehanna University, and Le Moyne College. She is currently leader of the Asuka Kakitani Jazz Orchestra.