Heard on ABC Network’s “20/20 Special” as well as at the Lincoln Center, composer Makia Matsumura has been enjoying her career in divergent fields: from film soundtrack to concert music, pops or jazz to classical, electronic to acoustic, music clubs to symphony halls. Also active as a pianist, she has appeared solo, with orchestra, as member of an R&B band, or partnered with a tap-dancing violinist playing tango, on world's renowned stages in the US, Japan and Europe. 

A native of Tokyo, Japan, Makia started her studies of piano and composition at the age of six. Since the age of twelve, she has performed her original music extensively in and outside of Japan. Her appearances from this era have included concerto performances on piano with established orchestras such as the Hungary National Symphony, the Berlin Great Radio Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and the Kyoto City Symphony Orchestra, at privileged venues such as Musikferein in Vienna, Austria, Schauspielhaus in Berlin, Germany, and the NHK Hall in Tokyo, Japan, among others. Makia was a featured pianist/composer at the master classes of those notable musicians such as Mustislav Rostropovich, Rodion Schicedorin, and Henri Deutileux, among others.  

After receiving her Bachelor’s degree in composition from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Makia moved to the US to further her studies at The Juillirad School in New York City. While at Juilliard, she received scholarships from Yamaha Music Foundation and Henry Mancini Institute; won the “First Hearing” competition by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; and had her orchestral works were premiered by the Civic Symphony of Chicago and the Juilliard Symphony. She has studied composition with Christopher Rouse, Samuel Adler, Edward Bilous, Mari Kimura, and Jack Smalley.
 
She started to take on film scoring projects shortly before graduation and has since scored several independent features and shorts, as well as TV programs including ABC News' "20/20" and US Presidential Election coverage on Japan Broadcasting Corporation (Nippon Hoso Kyokai - NHK). Her recent collaboration with Japanese animator and long-time friend Sachiyo Watanabe has won the grand prize at Japan's national super-short motion picture competition, resulting in a commision of a new project for the pair, which stayed on the air on NHK for more than three months in 2007. 
 
In 2003, Makia was introduced to improvisational solo piano accompaniment for classic silent films and immediately fell in love with the art. In 2007, she was selected as one of the two "aspirant pianists" to attend the 2007 Pordenone Masterclasses, a renowned program "to share the experience and techniques of the festival's resident musicians with new, young aspirants in the art of film improvisation", part of the 26th Pordenone Silent Film Festival in Pordenone, Italy. As an "aspirant", she was featured in an interview aired as part of BBC World Service's "On Screen". In 2008, she has made a US debut as a silent film pianist at the Cinefest 2008 in Syracuse, NY, and also performed at the New York Public Library’s “Meet the Music Makers” series at the Donnell Media Center.  

Holding her master’s degree in composition from The Juilliard School, Makia currently resides in New York City, actively working as a composer, silent film pianist, accompanist, and arranger. Her upcoming activities include a premiere of a chamber piano concerto in New York City, silent film accompaniment appearances at the National Film Center at the Museum of Modern Art Tokyo, and ongoing collaborations with independent film and media artists both in the US and Japan.