Masumi Nagasawa is one of the few harpists to perform on the modern Grand Harp, the singleaction harp (18th-19th century historical harp), the Irish harp and the kugo or Japanese ancient harp. She studied with modern harp with Phia Berghout at the Conservatory in Maastricht and the historical harp with Mara Galassi. She gained her solo diploma cum laude as well as the award of the Prix d’Excellence. She received the Muramatsu Music Prize Grand Prix Japan in 1990, awarded only to prestigious musicians. She has since been invited to International Festivals and also to various International Harp competitions as a jury member, these including the Concours Lily Laskine in Paris. Toshiba EMI Japan, Etcetera and Channel Classics have released CDs by her.

Masumi has given recitals in major concert halls in Amsterdam, Tokyo, Budapest, Rome, Prague, Washington D.C., Copenhagen and Brussels. Her recitals are highly varied, always changing with the development and expansion of her repertoire. She has been a soloist with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, St. John’s College Choir Cambridge and has also appeared as a soloist together with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Cecilia Bartoli. International festivals where she has been invited to perform include the Kuhmo International Chamber Music Festival, the Salzburg Music Festival, the Geneva Music Festival, the Akiyoshidai International Music Festival, the Ittinger Pfingstkonzerte, and the Torino Milano Festival Internazionale della Musica. In recent years Masumi has concentrated particularly on the single-action harp and has recorded her own CD series Soirées de Goût, which is the world’s first recording series for the single-action harp.

On historical harp she has performed with the Freiburger Baroque Orchestra, the Balthasar-Neuman Ensemble, the Kammerorchester Basel, the Orchestra La Scintilla and the Netherlands Bach Society. Alongside her concert appearances she both composes and arranges music for the harp; this has also been published and recorded. She currently teaches at the Conservatory in Maastricht.