Originally from Yokohama, Japan, Yu Nishiyama is a jazz saxophonist and composer. She first began playing piano at the age of 5 and picked up saxophone at age 14. She graduated from Senzoku Gakuen High School in Japan, and came to the United States to study jazz saxophone with Brad Leali at the University of North Texas. While at UNT, Yu wrote arrangements and original compositions for the UNT O’Clock Lab Band and other ensembles. She received her master’s degree in jazz composition and arranging at William Paterson University studying with Cecil Bridgewater and Ed Neumeister.

Yu received the Herb Alpert ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award in 2019 and 2021 for her big band compositions “Gloomy Suite” and “Honorary Whites.” In 2021, Yu received the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble Prize for her composition “Retrospections.”

The big band that Yu is leading, Yu Nishiyama Big Band, recorded their first album in October 2020. In 2019, Yu was accepted into the BMI Jazz Composer’s Workshop, a prestigious community of like-minded composers based in NYC. Yu was selected for the 2019 spring and 2019-2020 WIJO Mentors. This program is designed to connect and enrich the community of women and non-binary people in jazz.

Yu has been commissioned to several ensembles including Melissa Aldana’s composition “Free Fall” for the UNT One O’Clock Lab Band, WIJO Online Orchestra, and the Kimmel Center Creative Music Program.

In addition to her own projects and performances, Yu has given masterclasses at universities in Japan, including Senzoku Gakuen College of Music, about jazz saxophone and improvisation specifically for classically trained saxophonists. She also has played multiple woodwinds and the keyboard in pit orchestras at various venues.