Born and raised in Nagoya, Japan, Martha Kato is a pianist, composer and arranger in her blossoming career in New York.  Based in New York since 2009, she has performed across the world as a bandleader and collaborator at major venues such as Blue Note, Jazz Standard, Blue Note Tokyo, Cotton Club Japan, The Jazz Gallery, Dizzy’s Club, Smoke Jazz & Supper Club and Smalls Jazz Club. Playing in a wide range of styles and instrumentations, she has shared the stage and studio-recording with collaborators including Remy Le Boeuf, Miho Hazama, Takuya Kuroda, Alexis Cuadrado, and Pedro Giraudo.  In 2022, she performed with her trio at the Tel Aviv Jaffa Jazz Festival as a headliner and her performance captivated the Israeli audience. Her debut album Tales from The Trees (Somethin' Cool, 2016) has highlighted her brilliance both in playing and writing, featuring the 8-piece band with her vocals which add a unique taste to the ensemble. Mixed flavors from music of West Africa, South America, Jazz and classical music, her music keeps the weight of improvisation and composition in an interesting balance. The album was elected for Jazz Life Disc Grand Prix, category of New Stars by Japanese jazz magazine Jazz Life.  Her long-awaited second album Solúna was released in June 2023. The music videos of “Ishonsho Abe” and “Kinmok-Sailor” received the Munich Music Video Awards for Best Jazz Song, and Best Asia Pacific Music Video.  She also released a trio live album Moonlit in November 2023. Her recent work includes some big band commissions. The big band arrangement of her composition After The Rain won the 1st place at Yamano Big Band Contest in 2017 performed by Keio Light Society Music.  Martha’s awards and honors include the ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Award (2012), ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award (2014) and she is a second-place winner of Montreux Jazz Solo Piano Competition in Kawasaki 2014. She was a scholarship recipient of The Juilliard School and The New School, where she studied with Kenny Barron, Kevin Hays, Robert Sadin, Reggie Workman and more. She is on Remy Le Boeuf's Grammy-nominated album "Assembly of Shadows" and "Architecture of Storms" as a pianist. She has a bachelor’s degree from The New School.