We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Madoka Oshima. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Madoka below.

Madoka, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?

Anybody who gave me chances are the kindest thing people have done to me. Especially at the very beginning when I was very inexperienced. All the musicians that I met sometime between 2006 and 2010 were really encouraging, kept believing in me, and giving me works. That is really why I decided to go with this path. Really, we learn through works. I felt equipped at the music schools that I went, but I learned how to perform and all the business sides of being a musician from working. So I am just thankful for truly everyone who gave me works in the last 15 years. S0 many different projects, concerts, and events.

So, I tried to give that back. Anytime I meet someone who does things seriously, I give a call to him or her, or connect friends who need the service. This ranges from musicians, photographers, food coordinators, chefs, designers, language instructors, translators, babysitters, plumbers, builders….almost anything you can think of. Even if that person doesn’t have a lot of experience, I believe everyone needs a chance. Even the person make a mistake, if it’s not huge, I totally don’t mind giving more chances (unless there is any disaster). As a freelancer, the chances people gave me were the drive that kept me learning and moving ahead.

Madoka, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a pianist and composer from Tokyo, Japan. I moved to the US in 2002, and I have been active as a pianist since 2007. I have a degree in jazz studies, and I’ve been taking gigs as a jazz pianist for a long time, so jazz is my main thing. However, several different musical styles have influenced me. I consider what I do is a mix of jazz, world music, pop, and progressive R&B. I have been fortunate to perform with very good musicians here in Atlanta, and have learned so much from the performances. I have toured with B.B. King’s daughter Ms. Claudette King for a couple years, as well as played at two black churches consistently since 2009 – these opportunities made me learn styles beyond jazz – blues and church music – roots of jazz so to speak, and that made my playing just stronger. Lately, I’m definitely more focused on writing my own materials more than ever. After all this musical journey, I am more clear what I want to do with music, and would love more people to hear my stuff.
The first thing people say when they see me performing is that I look like I’m in love with music. And yes, it’s true. I love playing the piano. I love improvising and telling stories with music. This may be so simple, but I began to understand that showing strong love to something can offer a lot. In general, life could be difficult for anyone. Even myself, although I know what I love, it’s so easy to be confused with things happening everyday – lots of things are stressful, negative, and complex. We are all so busy. So, I think we all have experiences that seeing someone who’s in love with what she/he does, that’s the most inspiring moment to recognize that our life is essentially so beautiful. And, we need to be reminded of that consistently as it’s so easy to be forgotten with our busy lives. I am very happy if my performance or music reaches someone who needs that recognition. And I’m always inspired by many people, so I know it is a circle and flow of energy that we exchange. This love toward music actually grew in me as I worked on my craft, and it is also what I’m actually proud of myself. It’s been a long process for me to get to where I am right now – I wasn’t a child prodigy or always knew what I was doing. I have been working hard to practice the instrument, and performing itself has always been a huge learning experience. I am so thankful for all the opportunities that really keep me going and moving ahead.

Another thing that excites me now is to collaborate with different mediums. I just had a performance at one of the largest Japanese festivals in the US with a Japanese calligraphy artist Yuri. While Yuri did a live painting/writing, I created music live by layering sounds and improvising on the keys in front of several hundreds of people. Since she uses a traditional approach, I decided to arrange Japanese traditional and popular songs for jazz piano. I believe we are able to show that traditions can be reborn fresh with a remix. I’m about to start working with contemporary dancers for a new project.

I am also an educator. I mainly give private instruction on classical and jazz piano, and occasionally, I coach rehearsals of a small group for performances. In my piano studio, I have about 30 students who come see me every week. Students’ age range is so diverse from 4 to 92(!). I also accept students with any background. As much as I love performing on the stage, I love talking about music to enthusiastic students. Practicing the instrument is a long journey – it’s not a thing that gives you instant goals. So, usually I work with students for a pretty long stretch of time – that could be as short as 3-5 years, and as long as 15 years and more. It’s my pleasure to see each student’s progress closely. I also love when I’m able to help students with different performance strategies as an active performer.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I believe artists (any mediums) exist to give a light to the beauty of life: that can be translated as passion, energy, or love. When I play music, it is more becoming like meditation. But it’s also a way for me to communicate with myself, other musicians, and the audiences. When I feel good with the sound I’m creating, people can definitely relate to that and catch the energy. I’m not famous nor have a big record deal or any sort, but when I perform in front of a crowd, people feel me. So I began to realize and understand that’s my mission for this life that I share positive energy with the others. That’s also how I always received arts (again, in any mediums) since I was very young, and arts always spoke to me so clearly and strongly. They changed my life, and now I want to give that back.
Art helps loneliness. Art is love. I want to tell my daughter who sometimes struggle with how to deal with her close friends with different emotions, that it’s ok to feel sad and lonely. I want to tell that to anybody who is lonesome somewhere in the world. We can even tune that type of emotions to some kind of forms of creative meditation, and then we are okey.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding moment is when I feel so free on the stage. It was hard for me to get there for a long time. There may be a group of people who feel very natural to stand up in front of a crowd and perform, but I think as a jazz musician, working on the craft is a serious challenge. I was lucky to get gigs when I still didn’t have a skill and a confidence, but it was pretty hard, and that was for a while like that. There were lots of bad gigs that I played, and I didn’t feel great about myself. What’s important to me is that I didn’t quit even feeling like that. I kept trying. I kept working, thinking, and challenging. Then, at some point, I started to feel that I’m reaching somewhere. I am the witness of my own development as an artist, and that’s been actually just thrilling. Without this musical journey, I don’t think I would have been able to grow like this as a person. What’s great is that I have a perspective to understand people’s journey as well. I think that’s why I love teaching. Everything is connected.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.madokaoshima.com
• Instagram: @pianistmadokaoshima
• Facebook: Pianist Madoka Oshima
• Linkedin: Madoka Oshima
• Youtube: MO PLUS MUSIC

Image Credits
Kaatib Omari Shawn S. Shepard Mira Schoen