The 77-year-old Metropole Orkest is a hybrid orchestra, which means that it is a combination of jazz- and symphony orchestra and a big band.  They play not only jazz, but also pop music. However, they will be bringing a jazz repertoire to Hungary. The Grammy-winning band was last awarded the prize in 2020 for their joint album with Jacob Collier and the acapella group, Take 6.

Miho Hazama started playing the electric piano at the age of three, and later expanded her classical training with composition and arrangement. She moved to New York in 2010 to study jazz composition, having already obtained her master's degree at the Manhattan School of Music. After graduation, he made her first album, Journey to Journey. Five years later, she became the composer of the Siena Wind Orchestra, then chief conductor of the Danish Radio Big Band, while she was also invited to be the artistic director of The New York Jazzharmonic. From 2020, she is the permanent guest conductor of the Metropole Orkest.

Despite her young age, Miho Hazama has had a successful career. I asked her not only about the performance in Hungary, but also about her journey so far, not forgetting the difficulties a female conductor has to deal with in the male-dominated world of music.

• Réka Irk / Jazz.hu: What turned you to jazz?
• Miho Hazama: I grew up with listening to various kinds of music, so I liked jazz music since I was a little kid. When I went to music college in Tokyo, where I studied classical composition, I did an after-school activity to play piano in a college big band, and this led me to get interested in modern jazz composers such as Maria Schneider, Vince Mendoza and Jim McNeely.

• IR / Jazz.hu: You achieved tremendous success very early on. Weren't your parents afraid that you wouldn't be able to digest it all? Are your parents involved in music?
• Miho Hazama: My parents are not professional musicians but they love music. I really appreciate that they have been very supportive, and they have been believing in my motivation and potential.

• IR / Jazz.hu: Many great jazz players never wrote a song, yet we consider them great musicians. When did you realize that composing music was your path?
• Miho Hazama: I have always wanted to be a composer since I was 10 years old, because of music school I went in Japan (Yamaha music school). Besides, I was in love with a samurai TV drama show that has symphonic soundtrack. I had no idea what kind of “composer” I can be, but I always wanted to be a composer.

• IR / Jazz.hu: In this male-centric world, it is not easy to find a job as a conductor. How unusual is your status? Unfortunately, as far as I know in Hungary, there are no female conductors on the jazz scene, and only very few woman jazz instrumentalists are playing. I'm doing a series of interviews with them about it. Looking back, were there any obstacles along the way that led you to this point? How did you overcome them? Do you have any advice for the female jazz musicians coming after you?
• Miho Hazama: My identity as a jazz musician is very unique, maybe too unique. (haha) So I don’t even think of my gender or nationality when I work. I’ve been very lucky to be surrounded by amazing colleagues who have no discrimination, so I have been able to focus on music. In fact, there are more and more female composers in jazz scene in where I live (NYC)! Everyone deserves to believe in their talent, and keep going with it.

Everyone deserves to believe in their talent, and keep going with it.

• IR / Jazz.hu: The Metropole Orkest will perform in Hungary for the first time. How do you work with the Dutch based band while living in New York? How many musicians play in the band?
• Miho Hazama: Metropole Orkest might be the biggest large jazz ensemble in the world. I am very excited to represent this one-and-only professional jazz philharmonic orchestra to Hungary. They are expert at various kind of music, and very open to discuss about music, so I always try to open up musical possibility to develop our musicianship.  

• IR / Jazz.hu: How many bands are you currently conducting?
• Miho Hazama: 3 (Danish Radio Big Band, Metropole Orkest and my chamber orchestra in NYC, m_unit)

• IR / Jazz.hu: We know that the band covers not only jazz, but also pop music, and has even collaborated with pop artists several times. How did you develop the show for Hungary? What did you prepare for the audience?
• Miho Hazama: The team for Bridging Europe at Müpa showed specific interest in having us present new contemporary jazz-centered music at the festival. Although Metropole Orkest is indeed known for its collaborations, we are given the opportunity to showcase instrumental music where we can highlight the talent within our own band. Most of the compositions on the setlist are actually world premieres, so we are very excited about playing these!
  This is a very exciting program because most of the music is newly dedicated to this orchestra. A lot of composers have worked with us for quite a long time, so they know specific musicians to write for — And some composers brought us new colors to the band with their fabulous imagination. This is our showcase of how diverse we perform, and how colorful we are!

Fotó: Reinout Bos/Metropole Orkest FB