Makiko Hirabayashi, Satoshi Takeishi & Odense Jazz Orchestra

Makiko Hirabayashi is a Japanese-Danish jazz pianist and composer based in Copenhagen since 1990. Born in Tokyo in 1966, she began playing piano at age four and later won a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she shifted her focus from film scoring to jazz improvisation. Over the past three decades, she has established herself as a distinctive voice on the international jazz scene, leading a celebrated trio with legendary drummer Marilyn Mazur and bassist Klavs Hovman, as well as her quartet Weavers. Hirabayashi's compositions draw from classical music, jazz, Far Eastern traditions, and Nordic moods, creating a uniquely personal sound. Her quartet album "Weavers" won Jazz Album of the Year at the Danish Music Awards 2021, and in 2020 she received the prestigious Honorary Award from the Danish Composers Association. Her tenth studio album "Gifts" (Enja Records, 2025), also recorded with Weavers, further solidifies her reputation as one of Scandinavia's most compelling jazz artists.