Matsuricon Welcomes Kaoru Wada
Kaoru Wada is active in a wide range of musical fields, including anime, film, television, theatre and events, and has been involved in the musical side of well-known anime. While attending the Tokyo College of Music, he won the 30th Anniversary Memorial Competition of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, the Band of Tokyo, as well as the Japan Symphony Foundation Award. His work, “Dozokuteki-Bukyoku [Folkloric Dance Music] for Symphonic Wind Ensemble,” was selected as Theme Composition [Subject Work] of the All Japan Band Contest in 1984. Following his return from Europe to Japan, Wada was in charge of film music and accompanying music for animations (Japanese cartoons), including “Inuyasha,” as well as for movies, television, video, CD, dramas, and the stage. In 1995, his music for the Shochiku film, “Crest of Betrayal,” was awarded a Japan Academy Prize. He has also served as an arranger for several television music programs, including “The Untitled Concert” of TV-Asahi, and “Meikyoku Album” and “Minna-no-Dowa” of NHK. He has also been responsible for the arrangement of the works of artists such as Yoshikazu Mera, Sojiro, and Eitetsu Hayashi. – continue reading