Hailed by international press as a pianist whose “readings are very convincing” (Fanfare Magazine) and for her “exceptionally high technical level” (General-Anzeiger Bonn), Misuzu Tanaka has established herself as an artist of remarkable individuality. She has performed in major concert venues throughout the world, from the Gewandhaus in Leipzig and Alice Tully Hall in New York to Suginami Koukaidou Hall in Tokyo, and is a regular guest artist with the Frederick Collection's Historical Piano Concerts series in Massachusetts, one of North America's leading venues for performance on historical keyboards.

Her artistry has been recognized through prizes and awards at the International Janáček Competition, Boulder Bach Festival's World Bach Competition, Poland International Piano Festival Competition, and Daniel Rutenberg Chamber Music Competition. Recent recital appearances have included the Frederick Collection Historical Piano Concerts, Music Matters, Placitas Artists Series, Distinguished Artists Lecture and Concert Series, Aptos Keyboard Series, California State University Sacramento Piano Series, Pro Musica San Miguel de Allende, and Ridotto Classical Concerts. She made her U.S. orchestra debut at Festival Amadeus in Montana with the Festival Orchestra under the direction of maestro John Zoltek.

Drawn to the relationship between music and the personal, historical, and cultural experiences from which it emerges, Tanaka has developed a particular affinity for the music of Leoš Janáček and the broader traditions of Central and Eastern Europe. Her forthcoming solo album, Leaves of Sorrow, brings together works by Janáček, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev, exploring themes of loss, resilience, and hope through music shaped by profound personal and societal upheaval. The project reflects an artistic journey that began with Janáček's Piano Sonata I.X.1905 and led to a lasting engagement with Czech and Russian repertoire.

Her recordings on the Concertant Classics label include Misuzu Tanaka in Concert, featuring J. S. Bach's Partita No. 6 and both books of Janáček's On an Overgrown Path. Fanfare praised her “full, warm tone” and “sympathy for mood and atmosphere,” while The WholeNote observed: “Her playing is as perfect for Janáček as it is for Bach.”

Her most recent release, Epilogues, with clarinetist Maksim Shtrykov, explores late chamber works by Brahms, Saint-Saëns, and Poulenc. Classics Today described the duo as “clairvoyant collaborators” who “serve up world-class performances,” while MusicWeb International praised “a real affection behind the enterprise: affection for the composers and between the musicians.”

An active chamber musician, Tanaka has collaborated with distinguished artists such as Charles Neidich, Ayako Oshima, Sebastian Manz, and members of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Since 2012, she has toured extensively throughout the United States with clarinetist Maksim Shtrykov as the Shtrykov–Tanaka Duo. She is also a founding member of Trio Confero, whose programming encompasses original works, rediscoveries, and arrangements for clarinet, cello, and piano.

Born in London, Tanaka began piano studies at the age of five before continuing her musical education in Japan and the United States. She studied with Martin Canin at The Juilliard School and earned master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan as a full-scholarship student of Logan Skelton. Her sustained study of Janáček's music led to further work with Miroslav Brejcha and the late Ivan Moravec in the Czech Republic.