haruka nakamura

JAPAN

haruka nakamura is a composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist based in Tokyo, Japan. While growing up in the snowy hills of Aomori, haruka learned to play piano and guitar on his own.

He first emerged in the Japanese electronic scene with the release of “Afterglow” (Schole, 2007), a split album with Akira Kosemura and “grace” (Schole, 2008). His subsequent solo albums “twilight” (KITCHEN. LABEL, 2010) and “MELODICA” (hydeout productions, 2013) have become landmarks recordings of their own time.

It was in 2010 that the haruka nakamura PIANO ENSEMBLE was formed, after the dramatic success of “twilight” where the quintet members were first introduced. With haruka leading on piano, ARAKI Shin (saxophone, flute), Akira Uchida (saxophone), Rie Nemoto (violin) and Isao Saito (drums) would go on to establish a solid repertoire and develop a distinctive musical language of their own – one that combined classical rigor with contemporary improvisation both formal and free.

With the release of ‘Ongaku No Aru Fuukei’, the quintet embarked on their release tour that has spanned 2 years and a total of 21 shows throughout Japan, Taiwan and Singapore at prestigious venues such as Memorial Cathedral for World Peace in Hiroshima, Hyogo Art Performing Centre in Kobe and Meguro Persimmon Hall in Tokyo and others.

In 2017, their final album ‘Hikari’ was launched with a concert held at St Mary’s Cathedral in Tokyo to their largest audience to date. ‘Hikari’ concludes the trilogy of landmark albums ‘Ongaku No Aru Fuukei’ and ‘CURTAIN CALL’, and is the final recording to feature the current PIANO ENSEMBLE lineup.

After self-releasing two editions of piano solo albums ‘Still Life’, haruka nakamura returns to KITCHEN. LABEL in 2020 with a collaboration album entitled ‘the world’ with Japanese singer-songwriter LUCA. Other past notable collaboration projects by this prolific artist include albums “12 & 1 SONG” (KITCHEN. LABEL, 2011) with Janis Crunch and “FOLKLORE” (fete musique, 2014) with Aoki Hayato.

Apart from his solo and ensemble projects, haruka has commissioned original music for major brands such as for CITIZEN, PARCO and SONY, to name a few. As a producer, he has worked on albums with Miu Sakamoto, majiko, Miyuki Hatakeyama and Aimer.