Megumi Masaki is a pianist, multimedia artist, educator, conductor and curator, recognised as an innovator that reimagines the pianist, piano and performance space. For over thirty years, she has established an international reputation as a “virtuosic” (Musicworks), “most outstanding and mind-expanding” (Frettabladid) interpreter of new music with “electric and intimately sensitive musicianship” (BroadwayWorld Ireland).
Megumi Masaki is particularly interested in exploring how different mediums and technology can coexist to create new expressive potentials larger than the sum of their parts. For instance, Masaki’s research and collaborations explore new models of interaction and integration of sound, image, text and movement in multimedia works through new technologies, including hand-gesture-motion tracking to generate and control live-electronics and live-video, 3D visuals, piano controlled video games, e-textile sensors and artificial intelligence.
As a Japanese Canadian artist, Megumi Masaki’s work is also connected deeply to community, acting on Truth and Reconciliation calls to action, and how human rights and environmental issues can be communicated through music and multimedia performances to create narratives that speak truth to power. In recognition of the excellence and significant impacts of her achievements, Megumi was appointed as a Member of the Order of Manitoba and elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Seventy-four original works have been created together with or for Megumi and she has premiered over 180 works worldwide. She has released three documentary films and fifteen CD, DVD, LP and digital recordings that include solo piano, chamber music, electroacoustic and multimedia works. Megumi’s double disc album MUSIC4EYES+EARS CD/Blu-Ray under the Centrediscs label, hailed as “deliciously ambitious” (Musicworks), “simply breathtaking,” was nominated for Classical Artist of the Year, Western Canadian Music Awards. Her latest album and documentary film TRANSFORMATION under the Centrediscs label was released on October 25, 2022.