Masa Fukuda

Masafumi "Masa" Fukuda (福田真史; born in 1976 ) is a Japanese-American songwriter, music arranger, and choir director. He is the director and founder of One Voice Children's Choir.

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 Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture, in Japan in 1975 or 1976. Cultural traditions dictated that as the only son of a dentist father, he eventually would assume control of the family business, but Fukuda's father very quickly realized that Fukuda was best suited for another profession. Over 1,600 Utah children performed the songs with Paul Engemann, Alex Boyé, and other singers. Fukuda was inspired to work on the project after listening to the band Alabama's song "Angels Among Us", telling the Deseret News that he wished there were more "songs that are uplifting yet not necessarily religious".

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. In 2001, Fukuda and Gael Shults enlisted the aid of 1,621 students from 69 elementary schools in the Alpine, Nebo, and Provo school districts, to make a commemorative CD, "Light Up the Land". Originally called the 2002 Winter Olympic Children's Choir, It became a nonprofit organization and has an advisory board.

Personal life Early in his life, Masa became a member of the LDS Church. 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.