Junko Sakai

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Junko Sakai is a pianist now based in New York. She was trained in classical piano from the age of four. She switched to playing and singing original material in pop bands as a teenager. While attending Waseda University, Junko discovered jazz and began transcribing the music of Bill Evans and Oscar Peterson. By graduation from university, she was working in jazz bands around Tokyo and Kanto direct.

In 2012 she recorded her debut album “In the Crowd” for T-toc Records and toured throughout Japan. Later that year, she moved to New York to study with Jean Michell Pilc. She has performed at many venues including Kitano, Something Jazz Club and Tomi jazz. Junko has accompanied ballet classes at NYU for the last two years. She also accompanies for Gibney Company, Ballet Academy East and many others.