Miho Wada was born in Hino City, Tokyo, and grew up by the sea in Miyazaki, Japan. After New Zealand won the America's Cup yacht race—and her family's hearts—in 1995, they moved to Christchurch, where she accidentally started learning the flute. Soon after graduating with a Bachelor of Music from the University of Canterbury at the top of her class, she moved to London to study at Trinity College of Music.
Wanting more of a challenge after a stint with the National Orchestra of Malta, Miho flew to Cuba, where she studied flute and performed with members of Sones de Oriente, Kotumba, Sierra Maestra, and Buena Vista Social Club in Havana and Santiago de Cuba.
Miho's performing career has since taken her on numerous international tours, recording sessions, and live radio and television performances across a broad range of genres. She has performed with artists including Nigel Kennedy, Jarvis Cocker, and Ska Cubano, and recorded a series of television advertisements with Iggy Pop. After touring WOMAD festivals in 2009, Miho returned to New Zealand and began composing and performing her own original music, making her international debut as a bandleader at the SXSW showcase in Austin, Texas, in 2010.
She formed Miho's Jazz Orchestra in 2011. Originally assembled for a one-off charity album, the musicians enjoyed playing together so much that they decided to stay together and see where the road would take them. Since then, the band has released ten albums and three EPs, including one recorded at Sun Studio in Memphis. They have toured extensively and performed at festivals throughout Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, achieving repeated success on the New Zealand album charts with multiple Top 10 and Top 20 releases.
