Sana Nagano is a violinist and composer who has a highly distinctive approach to her playing, grounding chaotic improvisations with restrained precision. Formally trained in both jazz and classical traditions, Sana has played for projects such as the avant-bluegrass trio Astroturf Noise prog jazz quintet Smashing Humans, superb free-jazz trio Anime Mundi (with legendary Karl Berger, Medeski, Martin & Wood’s veteran Billy Martin), experimental strings duo Peach and Tomato, as well as Sarah Bernstein’s Veer Quartet. As both a collaborator and bandleader, she has played as part of Karl Berger’s Improvisers Orchestra and Adam Rudolph’s Go: Organic Orchestra, in addition to working with artists such as William Parker, Daniel Carter, Harvey Valdes, and numerous others. She has played on the Grammy-nominated self-titled full-length by pop star Shawn Mendes, as well as Berger’s Tzadik-issued In a Moment and Coheed and Cambria’s Unheavenly Creatures. On 577 records, Sana released Smashing Humans, a 2021 full-length featuring Nagano’s quintet of the same name, including saxophonist Peter Apfelbaum, bassist Ken Filiano, guitarist Keisuke Matsuno, and drummer Joe Hertenstein. The album’s pixelated cover art was designed by Michigan-based artist Rachel Viola (aka dr!p).

Sana was born in Tokyo, where she began playing violin as a child, and moved to the United States as an exchange student. She earned performance and composition degrees from the Berklee College of Music and the Aaron Copland School of Music of Queens College.