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Kazuyo Kuriya started playing the piano at the age of four, but in junior high school started playing the flute as a member of her school’s wind orchestra band. She studied the flute with Ms. Kuniko Yamaguchi until the end of high school.
After graduating from Kyushu Jyogakuin High School (Kumamoto, Japan), she enrolled in Musashino Academia Musicae (Tokyo, Japan) and began studying under Prof. Takao Saeki. At this time, her musical career in Japan unfolded as she was selected to be a member of the Musasino Academia Musicae Symphony Orchestra.
After she acquired her BM in western classic performance from Musashino Academica Musicae, she continued to pursue other styles of music by studying with various well-known musicians in Japan. She participated in numerous master classes with prominent flautists such as Emmanuel Pahud (principle flautist, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra), Davide Formisano (principle flautist, Milano), Takashi Shirao (Musasino Acadimia Musicae).
Some musicians with whom she has performed include:
Mika Yoshida (Marimba), Ryoko Tajima (Koto), Eizan Tajima (Shakuhachi), Poland Krakow State Philharmony, Vega String Quartet, William Ransom (Piano) , Eddie Gomez (Bass) and Kazumi Watanabe (Guitar)
In January 2007, she enrolled in Berklee College of Music (Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A) with a scholarship from the Asia World Scholarship Tour.
She is studying about jazz composition, arranging and performance.
Presently she is a member of the Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra (Directed by Greg Hopkins), which performed with Maria Schneider (November, 2007) and McCoy Tyner in July, 2008 at the Montreal International Jazz Festival.
