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Isao Tomita

One of the most renowned electronic music composer in the world, Isao Tomita (富田 勳) (born 1932) was born in Tokyo and spent early childhood with his father in China. After returning to Japan, he took private lessons in orchestration and composition while being an art history student at Keio University, Tokyo. He graduated in 1955 and became a full-time composer for television, film and theatre. He composed the theme music for the Japanese Olympic gymnastics team for the 1956 Summer Olympics in Australia.

In the late 1960s, he turned his attention to electronic music. He acquired a Moog III synthesiser and began building his home studio. He started composing "Snowflakes are Dancing" in 1974, which was a worldwide success. In that year, he also composed music for the Japanese film "Last Days of Planet Earth"

He kept on releasing albums as Firebird, Pictures at an Exhibition, Grand Canyon, Bach Fantasy. He gave a big concert in Linz, Austria called "Mind of the Universe", playing instruments in a pyramid on top of 80,000 people.

He is now the Honorary President of the Japan Synthesizer Programmers Association.

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