About Hiro Honshuku

Hiroaki Honshuku

Hiroaki Honshuku is a Japanese-born flutist, composer, educator, and recording artist based in the Boston area. Equally at home in jazz, Brazilian music, contemporary composition, and classical performance, he has built a career that spans performance, education, recording, music technology, and music journalism.

Introduced to jazz in Japan in the mid-1980s, Honshuku moved to Boston in 1987 after receiving a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music. That same year he was also accepted into the New England Conservatory on scholarship, completing both programs simultaneously. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Berklee and earned a Master of Music in Jazz Composition with Distinction in Performance from the New England Conservatory.

For more than twenty years, Honshuku served as assistant to legendary composer and theorist George Russell at the New England Conservatory and later worked with Russell’s Living Time Orchestra as assistant director, flutist, and digital audio specialist. Russell’s Lydian Chromatic Concept continues to influence Honshuku’s compositional approach.

As a performer, Honshuku has appeared with musicians including Mike Stern, Dave Liebman, George Garzone, Maria Schneider, Dave Weckl, Mick Goodrick, Tiger Okoshi, Bob Moses, Dave Holland, and many others. His extensive work in Brazilian music includes performances and recordings with Sérgio Brandão, Teresa Inês, José Pienasola, Gustavo Assis-Brasil, Gilson Schachnik, Alfredo Cardim, and numerous artists throughout the United States and Brazil.

An active recording artist, Honshuku has released six albums as a leader and has appeared on more than thirty recordings as a sideman. His compositions range from contemporary jazz and large ensemble writing to Brazilian-inspired works and chamber music.

As an educator, Honshuku has taught jazz theory, improvisation, composition, ensemble performance, and music technology at the New England Conservatory, Longy School of Music, and the New England Institute of Art.

He is a regular contributor to JazzTokyo, where he writes in-depth articles on jazz history, landmark recordings, and influential musicians. He also oversees the publication’s technical infrastructure and website development.

In addition to performing and writing, Honshuku has extensive experience in digital audio production, music technology, and website development, bringing decades of technical expertise to his recording, educational, and publishing work.