SAKAI, Itaru

Itaru Sakai majored in composition in the graduate school of Osaka College of Music. He served as music director for the ceremonies accompanying the 52nd National Sports Festival in Osaka in 1987. He composed the music to commemorate the 40th, 50th and 60th anniversaries of the Nara Prefecture Wind Band Association. He has also been commissioned to compose many new works for professional wind bands such as Naniwa Orchestral Winds and the bands of the Japan Self Defense Force as well as for school and amateur bands. Since 2009 he has also been responsible for arranging the entrance marches performed at the annual National Invitational High School Baseball Tournament.
His concertos and works for orchestra have been performed by the Hida Takayama Virtuoso Orchestra, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.
He was awarded the 25th Japan Academic Society of Wind Music prize in the composition category in 2016 and the Shitaya Prize of the Japan Band Directors’ Association (JBA) in 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018. He is a member of the Prosperous future for band into the 21st Century KYO-EN, part-time lecturer at Osaka College of Music and guest professor at Osaka University of Arts.