Masa Fukuda
Masafumi "Masa" Fukuda
Born in Osaka, Japan, he was a music prodigy, having composed his first piano song when he was 4. He enrolled in the Yamaha Music School when he was eight, learning musical composition and how to work with musical ensembles. As a sophomore in high school, he participated in a student exchange program at the Meridian School, a private school in Provo, Utah. He encountered Brigham Young University (BYU) professors whose strong teaching skills convinced him to attend BYU.
At BYU, he won a contest for nearby composers to write music for sale as soundtracks during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. He asked 1,621 elementary school students to help him make the commemorative Olympic CD "Light Up the Land". Some of those students performed as the 2002 Winter Olympic Children's Choir and Fukuda volunteered to train them. Once the Olympics had ended, the children wanted to continue to perform together, so Fukuda started One Voice Children's Choir.
Early life
Fukuda was born in
In his second year of high school, he elected to participate in a
Music career
In 2002, he and songwriter Jeannine Lasky wrote songs for The Power Within, an album that featured themes of "love, courage, hope, faith and living together in peace".
While at BYU, he heard of a contest for nearby composers to write music for sale as soundtracks during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.
One Voice Children's Choir
After the Olympics were over, the student performers had formed strong friendships,[1] and about 25 of them told Fukuda they hoped to keep performing with each other.[5][8] By September 2003, the group grew to 130 members.[8] In a 2015 interview with the Deseret News, Fukuda said, "We had performed a lot together, so we decided to do it."[1] Fukuda and Shults served as the choir's co-directors.[9] Originally called the 2002 Winter Olympic Children's Choir,[5] by 2003, the group was called Studio A Children's Choir.[9] In 2005, the choir was renamed One Voice Children's Choir.[10] It became a nonprofit organization and has an advisory board.[5] According to [The Salt Lake Tribune's David Burger, Fukuda's aim is "to create a nurturing, tolerant environment with high standards and a commitment to singing uplifting songs".[5]
Around 2003, Fukuda's nonagenarian grandmother visited an Osaka, Japan, store and noticed a poster that had John Lennon's photo. His grandmother brought it to her son, wondering whether Fukuda would want to participate in the music contest. Fukuda created a CD with several songs and sent it to the contest organizers who chose his Christmas song, "Innocence of Youth", as a finalist. They invited Fukuda, singer Jay Williams, and 12 members of the Studio A Children's Choir (a precursor to One Voice) to sing the song in Japan. Given a nine-day notice, they hurriedly raised money and obtained passports for the trip. The group won the grand prize, the John Lennon International Music Award, which was presented by Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono.[11]
Personal life
Early in his life, Masa became a member of the LDS Church.[1] Fukuda's first marriage was in October 2009.[5] At his Sandy, Utah, house, Fukuda writes and arranges music from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. in his basement studio. He sleeps only three or four hours a day, rising at 9 a.m. or 10 a.m.[1]
A 2015 article in the Deseret News noted that although Fukuda has been "living in the U.S. on and off" for over two decades, he cannot get American citizenship. Owing to his visa situation, he has had to fly back to Japan on multiple occasions. This has caused him to be away from the One Voice Children's Choir for three to nine months at a time, though he organized the choir's practices and arranged their songs through emails. Immigration laws prohibit him from being paid by the choir. He has been able to receive money in a roundabout way through musicians who contact him seeking child singers. Because Fukuda is familiar with his students, the musicians frequently pay him to be the
Masa Fukuda met Catherine Alyssa Eatman,[12] a Granger High School Japanese teacher, in July 2015 after they were introduced by a friend whose daughter was in his choir and who knew them both. Both had been LDS church missionaries in Japan and graduated from BYU. They married in October 2015. At their wedding, he sang Alyssa's favorite song, "Yellow" by Coldplay.[13]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Robinson, Doug (2015-01-19). "Doug Robinson: 'Heart and soul' of One Voice". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 2015-11-09. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
- ^ 中澤輝 (2017-07-29). "心震わす 奇跡の少年少女合唱団" [Mind shaking juvenile boys and girls choir] (in Japanese). NHK. Archived from the original on 2017-09-05. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
- ^ "福田真史『君だけの声を聴かせて』|PHP研究所". PHP研究所 / PHP INTERFACE (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-12-16.
- ^ Sim, Walter (2018-06-18). "Osaka quake: Nine-year-old dies en route to school, while panic fuels fake news". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 2018-12-02. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Burger, David (2009-12-17). "One Voice, eight years strong". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on 2015-11-09. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
- ^ a b Wadley, Carma (2002-03-02). "Music offerings teach values: 4 albums present deep, enjoyable, appealing tunes". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 2015-12-20. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
- ^ "2005 Pearl Award winners". Deseret News. 2005-07-31. Archived from the original on 2015-12-20. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
- ^ a b c d Newton, Catherine Reese (2003-09-25). "Utah kids' choir vies to sing for Yoko Ono – Choir heads to contesting Japan". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on 2024-05-27. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
- ^ a b Wadley, Carma (2005-04-29). "Holding on to hope: Utah children's choir invited to sing at Hiroshima's Flower Festival in May". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 2015-11-09. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
- ^ Howell, Blair (2015-07-11). "'Love and passion': One Voice Children's Choir to celebrate 10-year anniversary with concert". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 2015-11-09. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
- ^ Wadley, Carma (2003-10-31). "The power of dreams: Local composer/children's choir win big in Japan". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 2015-11-09. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
- ^ "Congratulations to Masa Fukuda, the director of One Voice Children's Choir, regarding his marriage to the love of his life, Catherine Alyssa Eatman!". One Voice Children's Choir. 2015-10-07. Archived from the original on 2022-03-21. Retrieved 2022-03-21 – via Facebook.
- ^ Newton, Catherine Reese (2017-12-15). "How a Utah choir director is taking 140 young singers to create One Voice — and teach lessons of music and life". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on 2018-04-16. Retrieved 2018-04-16.