The goals of the Sound Singers are to:

• Build friendship among Japanese, Japanese-Americans and others who are interested in Japan.

• Share Japanese culture with people from all backgrounds through our performance and contribute to local communities

• Through Japanese songs rediscover the virtues of Japanese culture; and through other songs deepen our understanding of other cultures.

• Experience the joy of singing every day.

Director: Fumi Tagata 田形ふみ

After graduating from Tokyo University of the Arts, soprano Fumi came to Washington State in 1998 to expand her musical experiences and repertoire. Since then, she has performed at various venues in the Greater Seattle area, as well as at local events such as Mariners games, and functions at the Official Residence of the Consulate General of Japan and the Washington State Governor.

Besides her own performances, Fumi is a voice trainer, the director of three choirs, as well as the founder of Songs of Hope, a Seattle-based group of musicians who gathered to support children in Fukushima affected by the nuclear accidents following the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011. She became the Director of Sound Singers in 2022.

東京藝術大学卒業後、1998年ワシントン大学大学院留学のため渡米。リサイタル、オペラ等の演奏活動の傍ら、シアトルマリナーズ開会式でのアメリカ国歌斉唱や、ワシントン州知事公邸、在シアトル日本国総領事公邸での演奏など、コミュニティイベントにも数多く招待される。

2011年の東日本大震災を機に設立された、復興支援のための音楽グループ「Songs of Hope」発起人。2012年よりシアトル地域の合唱団の指導にあたる。2022年よりサウンドシンガーズのディレクターに就任。

Pianist: Lisa Maria d’Aquila

Lisa has been teaching piano and accompanying in the Puget Sound region for over thirty years. Lisa is also a co-founder of Songs of Hope, a group of musicians in the Seattle area who started fundraising and benefit events to support victims and families who were affected by the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011 in Japan. Her love for both Japan and music combine delightfully at Sound Singers. She joined Sound Singers as a pianist in 2024.

Additionally, Lisa has been a lead of the “Japan In the Schools” program of Japan America Society of the State of Washington for the past 20 years. This program aims to introduce Japanese culture, history and language to elementary, middle and high school students anywhere in Washington State. Drawing on her own experiences as an exchange student in Japan, she is passionate about sharing Japanese traditions and values with young American students.

シアトル近郊で30年以上にわたりピアノの講師、またソリストや合唱団の伴奏を行ってきました。 リサは、2011 年 3 月に日本で発生した地震と津波の被害を受けた被害者やその家族を支援するための募金活動や慈善イベントために設立されたシアトル地域のミュージシャンのグループ「Songs of Hope」の創立メンバーでもあります。彼女の日本と音楽に対する愛情が融合して、2024年からサウンド・シンガーズでピアニストとして伴奏を担当しています。

またワシントン州日米協会でワシントン州各地の小中高等学校で日本の文化を伝える「Japan In the Schools」のプロブラムのリードとして2004年から20年間、自分が日本へ留学した経験を活かしアメリカで日本の伝統や文化を広めるために活躍しています。