Hina Oikawa Short Songs

Hina Oikawa Short Songs

“Where Poetry Meets Jazz, and Emotion Finds Its Voice.”

Hina Oikawa Short Songs is a New York–based multidisciplinary project led by Japanese saxophonist, composer, and Tanka poet Hina Oikawa.

A group of musicians performing live on stage, including a woman with dark hair sitting at a keyboard, a woman with red hair, and a man with long gray hair in the background at a music event.
A group of musicians performing on stage with a large blue and white abstract visual projection behind them.
An empty stage with musical instruments such as a grand piano, microphones, and chairs, with a large screen displaying the title 'Short Songs' on a dark background with abstract bokeh lights.

Blending the over-thousand-year-old art of Tanka—a form of Japanese poetry—with the sound of large ensemble jazz, the project creates a unique space where language, sound, and image merge into one living art form.

Each performance becomes a conversation between poetry and music, emotion and structure, tradition and modernity. Collaborating with visual artists, Hina transforms the stage into an immersive experience—where colors, lights, and motion echo the rhythm of words and the flow of jazz.

Reflecting the diversity of New York City, the band features musicians from different cultural and musical backgrounds, each bringing their own voice and story to the music. Together, they celebrate the beauty of human connection beyond borders.

Premiered at Culture Lab LIC in February 2025, “Hina Oikawa Short Songs” stands as an evolving artistic statement—an act of tenderness and resistance in a world that often values power over feeling. It invites the audience to slow down, listen deeply, and rediscover what it means to be fully alive.