Produced by Hall Advisor Takana Miyamoto
Enjoy Film Music with Orchestra XVII

Sachio Fujioka was the last favorite student of renowned conductor Akeo Watanabe. He served as assistant to Sir Georg Solti in London.

In 1990 Fujioka enrolled in the conducting department of the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Following his debut with the BBC Philharmonic in 1993, he made his debut in the London summer tradition "BBC PROMS" conducted the BBC Philharmonic in 1994. In 2001 he was appointed Principal Conductor of the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra and begin 26th season in January 2025 as Principal and from April 2025, he also serve as General Director. He was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Tokyo City Philharmonic in 2019. He also appears in TV program “Enter the Music” since October 2014. (BS TV TOKYO every Saturday from 8:30a.m.) He has released 8 CDs with the BBC Philharmonic including the works of Japanese composer Takashi Yoshimatsu on the British label CHANDOS and the complete Sibelius's Symphonies with Kansai hilharmonic on ALM RECORDS.

He was the recipient Akeo Watanabe Foundation Music Award in 2002.

Takana Miyamoto is a multi award winning, internationally acclaimed concert pianist, vocalist, composer, arranger and an educator. She has traveled and performed in over 30 countries worldwide, and currently bases herself in back Japan since 2013.

Takana’s music go beyond genres ranging from jazz, pops, rock, film music, semi-classical to full orchestra. Her story-telling piano sound and music writing are featured on several albums and concerts of the multi-Grammy nominated jazz artists Kirk Whalum (sax), Nnenna Freelon (voc), Rene Marie (voc), Grammy winner Irene Cara, and Japanese greats such as Junko Yagami (winner of Women Songwriter’s Hall of Fame 2022/USA), Chikuzen Sato, Lisa Ono, May J., Ayaka, Sarah Alainn, Miki Imai, Maki Oguro, Jun-ichi Inagaki, TOKU, SUGIZO (Luna Sea / X-Japan) , Billboard Classics series, and SNOOPY Christmas Orchestra, Ishidagumi among many others.

Born and raised in Yuki, Ibaraki, Japan, Takana’s first music lesson was at age 4. She decided to make a career being a composer at age 14 and became deeply drawn to jazz piano, fascinated by the music of Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett and Dave Grusin while attending Berklee College of Music. She recorded her first jazz piano trio album in 1997, made the nationwide TV debut on BET ‘Jazz Central’, and started her international performing career as a concert pianist. After graduating with an honor and several awards, with a dual degree in Film Scoring and Jazz Composition, Takana relocated to New York city, where she won the First place in Randy Edman Piano Competition in 1998. Takana joined the world tour of the multi- Grammy nominated vocalist, Nnenna Freelon, and is featured as a pianist, arranger and musical director in ‘Soulcall’ which received 2 Grammy nominations in 2001.

Takana moved to Atlanta, GA in 2002, received the ‘Rising Star’ recognition from the International Jazz Society, and completed the master’s program in Jazz Pedagogy at Georgia State University. She was awarded the US permanent residency based on her contribution in the music field. She was selected as one of ‘GA’s most powerful and influential women’ (2002), Elite Asian from Asian American Community in GA, (2005) and ‘GA’s 25 most influential Asian'(2012), ‘the Atlanta’s best jazz act’ (2005 and 2006) in Creative Loafing, and the honorary member for the Japan America Society of Georgia (2009).

As a composer, Takana has scored for several motion picture productions, theatre and TV shows, as well as for big bands and concert orchestras. (voted ‘GA’s most influential women’ as a composer in 2003.)

Takana’s latest release ‘Wonderful World’ (2020) received the Best Popular Album award from Music Penclub Japan. In 2023, She was appointed to be the hall advisor (in jazz genre) for the renowned concert hall ‘MUZA Kawasaki Symphony Hall’ in Kanagawa.

Freelance announcer

After she graduated from Nihon University College of Art in 1987, she joined Fuji Television. As an announcer, she appears on many programs such as "Professional Baseball News'' and "Heisei Board of Education,'' gaining popularity. She left Fuji Television in 1995. From 1997 to 2022, she served as the main caster of "World Athletics" (TBS). Currently, she is appearing on "Takarazuka Cafe Break" (TOKYO MX TV), "Sujinashi" (TBS), "The Splendid World of Takarazuka Revue" (period drama channel), "Alvarez no Sora" (BS TV Tokyo, narration), etc. Regular appearance. She is also active in a wide range of other fields, including columns on movies and theater, video distribution programs, event hosts, classical concert navigators, and reading readers.

She supports the activities of the NPO Cancer Net Japan, and in 2018 she became a director. She also hosts cancer awareness events and public lectures.

A vocalist/multi-instrumentalist originally from Australia, Sarah has a vocal range spanning over 3 octaves, perfect pitch and synaesthesia (she sees sound as colours).

In 2012 Sarah was signed to Universal Music Japan and all her albums have reached #1 on the Japanese charts. Sarah worked with 16 time Grammy Award winning record producer David Foster on the Disney special anniversary album We Love Disney, singing Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas. She was chosen to sing the theme song Bring the Snow in both English and Japanese to the feature film Moomins and the Winter Wonderland. She also made her debut as a voice actor on the film. In Japan Sarah is known for singing the theme of the popular NHK Taiga-series Segodon. She has performed numerous times before the Japanese Royal Family including the former Emperor and Empress.

Sarah is the voice of many beloved anime and video game music. From her vocalist debut Beyond the Sky (Xenoblade) during her exchange to The University of Tokyo, to Isabella's Lullaby (The Promised Neverland) which currently has over 55 million streams on Spotify alone, Sarah has been a muse for many composers.

Sarah hosts and scriptwriters her decade-running weekly radio program Peace of Mind~Saturday mornings with Sarah Àlainn on Tokyo FM/FM Osaka. Her selfproduced latest album ISEKAI - Anime & Video Game Muse reached #1 on the weekly classical Oricon charts.

Saxophonist, composer, arranger, and visiting professor at Tokyo University of the Arts. Born in Tokyo in 1957.

Released his first leader album, "Burnin' Waves" in 1978 while still in university, featuring the L.A. fusion group Sea Wind.

Since then, he has performed with renowned musicians both in Japan and abroad, including Chick Corea and Freddie Hubbard.

He is one of Japan's leading saxophonists.

His versatile talents as a composer and arranger are well known, notably for his work on films by director Juzo Itami, including "Marusa No Onna/A Taxing Woman" (which won the Japan Academy Prize for Best Music) etc.

His latest release is the third collaborative album with the Tokyo University of the Arts Special Wind Orchestra,"FAREWELCOME".