Makoto Nakura is a marimbist and educator from Kobe who is based in New York. He studied at Musashino Academia Musicae and its graduate school and at the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 1994, he became the first marimbist to win the Young Concert Artists International Auditions.
He has given recitals at venues including Carnegie Weill Recital Hall and the Kennedy Center, appeared with orchestras in Japan and abroad, and received honors including the Agency for Cultural Affairs National Arts Festival New Artist Award and the Matsukata Hall Music Award Grand Prize. In 2001, he founded the ISGM New Music Commissioning Fund and has since commissioned new works for marimba from composers in several countries.
As an educator, Nakura has given master classes at universities around the world and taught for six years at Kyoto City University of Arts. He has served as a Specially Invited Visiting Professor at Toho College of Music since the 2026 academic year.