Kae Matsumoto (aka Kae M Black)

 Kae Matsumoto (aka. Kae M Black) is a Los Angeles-based composer, orchestrator, and pianist/keyboardist who has been successful in the US and Japan/Hong Kong/China music scene. She has worked with world-renowned composers and songwriters such as Prince, Dr. John, Randy Newman,Trevor Horn and Ryuichi Sakamoto.

 

 Kae was born in Tokyo, started to learn piano and composition from a very early age as one of the first generation Yamaha music students - a system of music education her father co-founded.

 

  At age 13, she performed her own composition at the 2nd Yamaha Junior Original Concert in Japan.  Kae graduated from the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music, and received an artistic scholarship from the Manhattan School of Music as a graduate student.

Kae made her debut as a professional composer/orchestrator by arranging the program pieces for the New York Philharmonic Japan Tour, in the 1980s.

 

  Some of Kae's more successful recent works include pieces composed and orchestrated for the Japanese animated film, "Summer Wars" directed by Mamoru Hosoda.  This work was nominated for numerous international awards, including an Academy Award.  She also worked on the Brazilian feature film "Coracoes Sujos", the Sony PlayStation 2 online game "Resident Evil Outbreak", and Japan's most famous comedy-action movie "Bayside Shakedown”.

 

  The short film titled Orizuru (2015), that Kae scored, was not only awarded at the Hollywood Dreams International Festival, but also screened at the United Nations headquarters, and presented to President Obama at the White House.

 

  Throughout her career, Kae has performed as an orchestra pianist in various recording studios, and in multiple musicals and theatrical play productions in both the US and in Japan.  Prominent piano performances include playing with the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, and performing for the Antaeus Company in North Hollywood. The legendary keyboardist Keith Emerson became her mentor after hearing her performance, and she played his last solo piece at the Keith Emerson Tribute Concert, with  at the El Ray Theater, performed another of Keith Emerson’s compositions in 2019 at the Saban Theater in Los Angeles .

     Kae won “Best Original  Score” in St. Kilda Film Festival in Australia in 2021 and the Keith Emerson Tribute Concert DVD/CD is released on March, 11th, 2021. Currently, she will perform solo piano at Synthplex event concert. and is working on an animation film.