flute
Kana Miyamoto is a flutist, educator, and composer based in New York City, originally from Chiba, Japan. In 2024, she won 1st place in the National Flute Association (NFA) Jazz Artist Competition. Kana currently teaches flute at the New York Jazz Workshop and is a Meyers Pickup Artist.
Kana has performed at renowned venues including The Jazz Gallery, 55 Bar, ShapeShifter Lab, Bowery Ballroom, Nublu, and Barbes. She has collaborated with musicians such as Frank LoCrasto, Moto Fukushima, Lew Tabackin, Ron McClure, Arta Jekabsone, Sammy Weissberg, Mellisa Almaguer, June McDoom, Catbuscollective and more.
Kana has been invited as a leader/soloist to perform at prestigious events such as the Friday Night Concert Series at the Residence of the Ambassador at the Consulate General of Japan in New York, The Moth Gala at Spring Studio, and the Swing into Spring Jazz Festival as Kanacept at the Jazz Loft in Stony Brook. In 2021, she received the “Good Practice Award 2021” from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, where she was part of the curatorial team for “Re: Open Jam at Japan Village” to aims to celebrate and support the restart of Japanese musicians who were impacted by the pandemic. Kana was also a winner of the NFA Jazz Masterclass Competition in 2022.
Kana began her musical journey at the age of 15, moving to the United States as a recipient of the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Overseas Study Program for Artists Japan. While attending high school, she began her studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and later transferred to Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. After graduating, she returned to Japan to attend Tokyo College of Music. During this time, she performed regularly as a soloist and recording flutist, as well as in orchestral, chamber, jazz ensemble, and big band settings. She worked with artists such as Naoki Sato, Kiminori Atsuta, Akira Naito, and Megumi Otani, among others. Kana was a member of the Tad Wind Symphony Orchestra in 2012-2015.
In 2014, Kana relocated to New York City to attend The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. In 2017, Kana released the album “Spring Doze” with her band Kanacept. The album was featured in the jazz magazine “The Walkers” and broadcast on New York’s WNYC-FM, followed by a successful Japan tour in 2018. Kanacept’s second mini-album, “Dancer in the Galaxy,” was released in 2020, and “In the Forest ~ flute and kora field recording project~” was released in 2021, recorded with kora player Yasuhiro Sakairi in a forest in Japan. In 2024, her flute quartet score, “Songs for Flying Penguins,” arranged by Atsushi Kotani, was released in Japan.