Based in New York, she was trained both as a classical composer at the Kunitachi Conservatory in Japan, and as Jazz composer at the Manhattan School of Music. Her symphonic Jazz compositions and arrangements combine sophisticated orchestral writing and unique Jazz sounds.

As a composer and arranger, she has collaborated with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Metropole Orkest, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Vince Mendoza or Shiro Sagisu, as well as for film and television. 

As a guest conductor, she has led orchestras such as the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, WDR Big Band Cologne and hr-Bigband Frankfurt in programmes spanning from George Gershwin and Duke Ellington to Leonard Bernstein, Herbie Hancock or Ennio Morricone, to her own works and Jazz-versions of compositions by Tchaikovsky or Beethoven. 

Compositions and arrangements by Hazama have been featured in numerous recordings and she has conducted five of them herself to much acclaim: four albums with m_unit – the latest Beyond Orbits released in September 2023 – and one with the Danish Radio Big Band. The m_unit-album Dancer in Nowhere (2018) was nominated for the 62nd GRAMMY®-Awards.

2024/25 season / 279 words. Not to be altered without permission.