Honoka Masuyama

Honoka Masuyama is a Japanese percussionist, educator, and doctoral candidate at The Hartt School, University of Hartford, where she is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance.

As a versatile performer, Honoka appears regularly as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral percussionist, and theatre percussionist. As a member of the Hartt Percussion Group, she has toured to the University of Delaware Interactive Percussion Seminar (UDIPS), Towson University, and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, presenting contemporary percussion repertoire. In August 2026, she will appear as a guest artist with the Jovan Percussion Project at Nebojša Jovan Živković's International Summer Academy & Festival for Marimba & Percussion (ZISAMP) in Vienna, Austria. She has also performed with the Hartt Orchestra, the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, and as a percussionist and drummer for professional musical theatre productions at Playhouse on Park.

As an educator, Honoka has taught university percussion courses, coached percussion ensembles, and maintains private studios in percussion and piano. Her teaching emphasizes technical excellence, musical expression, and fostering a lifelong appreciation for music.

Originally from Tokyo, Japan, Honoka earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Tokyo College of Music and her Master of Music degree from The Hartt School. Her artistic perspective has been enriched through immersive study of West African percussion in Ghana and ongoing training with internationally recognized artists across diverse percussion traditions. She is a two-time recipient of The Hartt School's John Cage Music Award and an active member of the Percussive Arts Society.