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Sumi Tonooka’s compositions for orchestras, jazz ensembles, film, and dance are shaped by her more than forty years as a jazz performer and improviser.
With decades of experience on the piano, Tonooka approaches her compositional work with a jazz artist’s affinity for experimentation and an interest in fusing genres and cultural influences, including her own Japanese heritage. She has released twelve albums under her own name, composed four symphonies for orchestras, and scored numerous films and dance performances. She has performed at venues including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and the Monterey Jazz Festival, and with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and jazz artists such as Benny Golson, Wallace Roney, and Pew Fellows Odean Pope and Bobby Zankel. (https://www.pewcenterarts.org/fellow/sumi-tonooka)