Michihiro Sato

When he was a junior in college he moved to Hirosaki, Aomori to become an apprentice to master musician Chisato Yamada.

In 1982 and 1983 he won first prize in the national Tsugaru-jamisen competition, becoming the first performer to win in two consecutive years.

He eventually left his sensei to pursue his interest in free improvised music.

In 1986 Sato was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation grant, with which he pursued collaborations with musicians in New York.

Since the mid-1980s he has recorded with John Zorn, Bill Frisell, Fred Frith, Tenko, Mark Miller, Nicolas Collins, Christian Marclay, Steve Coleman, Toh Ban Djan (Ikue Mori and Luli Shioi), Semantics (Elliott Sharp, Samm Bennett, and Ned Rothenberg), Tom Cora, Joey Baron, Mark Dresser, and Gerry Hemingway.