// ABOUT SOZO MEDIA
Sozo Media is an international arts consulting and management firm representing a select roster of dynamic, multi-cultural artists and organizations.
“Sozo”—Japanese for imagine and create— identifies and develops artists and projects conveying an uncommon style – those that challenge convention and cross artistic and cultural boundaries.
Sozo enables clients and partners to envision and activate the stories that affirm and enrich our lives, and connect communities through art.
// ABOUT RIKA IINO, FOUNDER & CEO
Rika began her creative career at a young age with classical piano, traversing from her native Tokyo to the Mozarteum Conservatory in Salzburg, Austria. She continued her academic and artistic pursuits in the U.S., attending Phillips Exeter Academy and later Columbia University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa. Rika gained early experience in production, marketing and finance with the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), Carl Fischer Music Publishers, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in New York.
Rika’s international upbringing and dual background in performance and industry enables her unique perspective in arts management and event production, and moreover, drives her mission: to support artists and creative projects in the ever-changing global marketplace, incorporating an innovative hybrid of brand stewardship and long-term career development. Founded in 2001 in New York, Sozo Media identifies and develops artists with uncommon styles, those that challenge convention and cross artistic and cultural boundaries. Her current roster of clients includes the pioneers of vertical dance, Bandaloop; the virtuosic cellist/trombonist/composer Dana Leong; the innovative, Haitian-American, composer/violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR); and the Shanghai Restoration Project. Past clients/projects include string quartet ETHEL, composer/percussionist Lukas Ligeti, pianist Kathleen Supove, choreographer/dancer Francesca Harper, composer/saxophonist Fred Ho, and the classical music catalogues of Frank Zappa, Ornette Coleman, John Zorn and many others.
Through her training and experience, Rika has developed exceptional skill in creative collaboration and an uncanny intuition for emerging artistic trends. Sozo consistently delivers resonate, unforgettable performances around the world. Rika frequently consults in a variety of marketing and programming contexts. Her recent consulting clients include Carnegie Hall for JapanNYC, a city-wide festival of Japanese arts lead by Seiji Ozawa; Daryl Roth Theatrical Management for the off-Broadway production of Tokio Confidential, and YouTube/Google for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. Rika has also produced musical and theatrical performances at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Macau International Music Festival, Sydney Opera House, and the Melbourne Arts Festival, among others. Current collaborations include The Hong Kong New Vision Arts Festival as well as Bandaloop and Dana Leong’s National Tour of Mexico in partnership with the US Embassy in Mexico City. Rika’s leadership in the arts includes membership in The International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) as well as her work with the Major University Presenters (MUP), The Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) and Women In Music (WIM).
In 2012 Rika formed a partnership with her Exeter classmate, Jonathan Harlow, to launch Sozo Experiences in Tokyo, Japan, a branding and events planning agency. Sozo Experiences’ clients and partners span from Dom Perignon to Pavone, Japan’s leading lifestyle magazine. Drawing upon Sozo’s mission of forging new perspectives in creative partnerships, Sozo Experiences will drive innovation in collaborative arts and media on a global scale.
// KEY SERVICES OFFERED
+ Concert/Tour Production & Promotion
+ Branding & Marketing
+ Music & Arts Festival Programming
+ Japanese/Asian Arts & Culture Consulting
+ Video Production
// THE SOZO TEAM
Rika Iino
CEO/Producer
Annie Burns
Producer
Farrah Crane
Assistant to CEO
Jason Martin
Business Development Manager
Dorian G. Stone
Video Director
Kay Shimizu
Japan/Asia PR Director
Jonathan Harlow
Affiliate Partner, Tokyo, Japan
sozo experiences
April Thibeault
USA PR Partner
AMT PR
