Maki Kubota is an award-winning cellist who has performed for audiences internationally to great acclaim. A member of the Houston Symphony Orchestra, he has also appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and Charleston Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician he has collaborated with artists such as Lynn Harrell, Jeremy Denk, Glenn Dicterow and Karen Dreyfus, performing at venues such as the Library of Congress, the Embassy of Singapore, and the Morgan Library. He recently toured Mediterranean Europe, Mexico and Central America performing on Holland America Line through its partnership with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Activities in 2018 include appearances in Europe for a tour with the Houston Symphony, Colombia for a performance with the Medellin Philharmonic and faculty residency for their national Youth Philharmonic, Granada Spain to record for IBS Classical, Santa Barbara as a guest performer at the Music Academy of the West and San Diego for La Jolla Summerfest, as well as other engagements as a teacher, recitalist and chamber musician.

Maki first began cello lessons while in high school as a student of Stanley Sharp. After completing his undergraduate studies with Alan Stepansky at the Peabody Conservatory, he graduated from Rice University on full scholarship under the tutelage of Desmond Hoebig. His training includes fellowships at the Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival, and Takacs String Quartet Seminar, as well as studies abroad at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore with Li-Wei Qin.​

Maki is devoted to teaching and mentoring the next generation of musicians. He has trained as a teaching assistant at Peabody Preparatory where he also coached chamber music, was a teacher-mentor at the Music Academy of the West MERIT program and has taught privately at numerous other schools and music festivals. He maintains a private studio based in Memorial Heights, Houston.