Ryoka Hagiwara M.A.

Ryoka Hagiwara has studied piano performance, composition, and musicology in Japan and the UK. She holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the Showa University of Music in Kawasaki, graduating in 2023. She completed her master’s degree in composition from the University of Edinburgh in 2024 with a composition project and thesis focusing on cultural identity and music. As a composer, she has scored multiple movies, as well as working on personal projects that explore identity and heritage. In 2024, she workshopped a composition with the Plus Minus Ensemble. Recently, she has also worked as a writer for UK-based interdisciplinary magazine The Cusp, and Scottish arts and culture magazine The Skinny. 

Since September 2025, she has been participating in the Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 1671 “Home(s): Phenomena, Practices, Representations” in subproject B01 “In Search of Home – Music-Cultural Practice in East Asia” as a doctoral candidate and researcher.

• Japanese music and instruments in the 19th and 20th centuries
• Sociomusicology
• Practice-based / informed research (composition and performance)