Makana Jimbu is a multitalented marimba player, percussionist, arranger, and educator from Tokyo, Japan
Makana started building her solid musical foundation at the highly competitive Yamaha Music School in Tokyo at the age of four. As a performer and competitor, she was a member of the Electone Ensemble, an electric organ group. At the age of thirteen, Makana started playing percussion while studying at the Tamagawa Gakuen Academy in Tokyo. At the age of seventeen, Makana won the Japan Classical Music Competition while studying the Senzoku Gakuen Music High School. She graduated with Honors from the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music in 2013.
Makana moved to the United States in 2013 to study at the University of North Texas with Professor Mark Ford. She received second prize in the Poland International Marimba Competition in 2014 and was a semi-finalist in the Taiwan International Percussion Competition in 2017. She has performed at international conferences such as PASIC with UNT Percussion Ensemble at the International Percussion Ensemble Showcase Concert in 2016, and also has an upcoming performance at TMEA (Texas Music Educator Association) with the UNT Wind Symphony in February 2019. Makana is also very proactive educator who teaches everyone from 5-year-old to college students in the Dallas Fort Worth area.