MAO SONE

Born into a musical family, Mao Sone was immersed in classical piano from early childhood, nurtured by an environment that included a Shamisen (traditional Japanese lute) player grandmother and another who owned a jazz café. After falling in love with the music of Louis Armstrong, he took up the trumpet at age eight. A true prodigy, he performed with jazz legends Terumasa Hino and Ray Bryant at just nine years old. By his senior year of high school, following collaborations with Norio Maeda and Takeshi Inomata, he had already launched his professional career.

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In 2010, Sone entered the prestigious Berklee College of Music on a full-tuition scholarship, studying under masters such as Tiger Okoshi, Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci, Sean Jones, and Hal Crook. While still a student, he performed at world-renowned festivals including the Newport and Monterey Jazz Festivals. After graduating at the top of his class in 2014, he became a member of the inaugural class of Berklee’s master’s degree program, graduating summa cum laude in 2016. During these academic years, he established an international reputation by winning the 2014 International Trumpet Guild (ITG) Jazz Competition, becoming one of the 13 global semi-finalists in the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition (now the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz), and winning the 2016 "Keep an Eye" International Jazz Award in Amsterdam. His achievements were also recognized at home, where he was honored with the "Hometown Development Merit Award" by his city of Nagareyama in Chiba Prefecture.

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In 2017, Sone captivated audiences at legendary venues like Blue Note New York and Blues Alley in Washington, D.C. The following year, he made his major-label debut with the self-produced double album Infinite Creature. He has since continued a prolific and versatile output, releasing the band project Brightness of the Lives (2022), his first solo piano album Plays Standards (2023), and Eight Little Pieces (2025)—a definitive fusion of jazz and large ensemble work that marks a milestone in his musical journey. Concurrently, he launched "MAOSHO," a collaborative duo with Tsugaru Shamisen master Sho Asano. Their debut tracks, including Yonebushi / HIBIKI, were released via Avex, and Sone’s original composition "HIBIKI" was selected as the Autumn 2025 theme song for MBS’s "Otenki-bu" (Weather Department), showcasing his unique ability to intersect tradition and innovation.

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In recent years, Sone has expanded his creative horizons into cinematic and national-scale projects. He starred in the film Trumpet (directed by Kevin Haefelin) and served as its music director, leading the film to numerous accolades at international film festivals, including the Audience Award at the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2021. In 2024, he played a pivotal role in the hit Netflix series Beyond Goodbye (さよならのつづき), composing and arranging the featured piano pieces and serving as the piano supervisor. He spent a year providing piano and acting coaching to lead actors Kentaro Sakaguchi and Toma Ikuta; the resulting soundtrack was widely praised by media and social platforms as the work of a "genius." Sone's grand-scale presence was further cemented when he performed at the opening ceremony of EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.

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In July 2026, Sone served as the music director for "Hibiki," a groundbreaking stage production that seamlessly fused Shomyo (traditional Buddhist chanting), string instruments, and jazz. That same year, MAOSHO made its U.S. debut, introducing global audiences to a revolutionary sonic landscape where Japanese traditional music meets jazz. Furthermore, through his project "KOBUSHI," he brings the profound allure of Japanese culture to life through a modern, contemporary lens, earning widespread critical acclaim both domestically and internationally.

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Beyond his performance career, Sone’s multifaceted talents as a composer and arranger have seen him participate in projects led by jazz titans such as Danilo Pérez, Wayne Shorter, and Terri Lyne Carrington, while he also dedicates himself to nurturing the next generation as an educator. His singular global presence was highlighted in 2022 with the publication of his biography in France, titled Mao Soné, le jazzman deux en un (Mao Sone: The Two-in-One Jazzman) by Christian Soleil.

 

Carrying the profound expectations of the late legendary jazz critic Kiyoshi Koyama—who predicted that Sone would "elevate the Japanese jazz scene to a higher dimension while competing on equal footing with European jazz"—Mao Sone continues to pioneer new horizons in the world of jazz.