Sumie (Sumi-é) Kaneko is a worldwide and versatile koto and shamisen player, also a vocal artist and songwriter. Tokyo Geijutsu University in Yamada school koto major in 2000, and Berklee College of Music in jazz vocal major in 2006. A winner of the Takasaki International Competition in Koto performance in 1998. She is renowned for her ability to collaborate with a diverse range of artists including Pulitzer Winner Paula Vogel, and in 2021, she performed shamisen solo for American Ballet Theatre’s season opening. Performance credits: Carnegie Hall, Blue Note NY, TED talk, Google, Getty Center, Hollywood Bowl, Stanford University, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Rhode Island School of Design, Aoyama Gakuin University and more. International tour credits: opening of the Magyar Zene Háza in Budapest and concerts in over 20 countries sponsored by the Embassy of Japan and Japan Foundation. Her passion is always towards original compositions. The second album Dead of the Night has been well received for her unique and exquisite sounds.