Akira has over 30 years of professional experience in the video marketing and event producing space for major corporations and nonprofit organizations. For over twelve years, he worked his way up from editor to the producer and sole live event director for all West Coast executives at TRW Space and Electronics. He edited/produced videos for the DoD, NASA and Congress, and from 1998-2002, he oversaw all media content of conferences and trade shows while producing & directing events for this Fortune 500 company nationally.  

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From 2002-2009, Akira freelanced in film while writing and producing a play. “A Concerto for Claire” and writing and optioning a screenplay, “Serenading Grace”. He redesigned the curriculum on a children’s acting program at the Alexia Robinson Acting Studio and created a successful “Script Writing through Film Production” program at the LEAP University Academy Charter School. He also oversaw the WireImage office for two years from 2006-2007.

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Akira grew up as a classical pianist at the Colburn School, and got a full ride piano performance scholarship to UCLA. He graduated with a BA in Film Production, while concurrently studying film scoring at the UCLA Extension.

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In 2009, he returned to piano performance full time as the Music Director of “Closer Than Ever” at the Lodestone Theatre Ensemble. It was from there that Akira went on to refocus his studies on classical piano. He produced and performed in a recital and a concert with the Dream Orchestra. He went on to solo with the Southeast Symphony multiple times and was a performer/lecturer in the Great Speaker Series at the Beach Club in Santa Monica. He was also the featured pianist for the President of the Huntington Library for all fundraising dinners for several years.

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To support his music career, Akira returned to the corporate world as a C-suite Executive Assistant, largely in architecture. His event producing experience was utilized for major political events (Eric Garcetti, Gil Cedillo), several west coast book signing tours and as one of the producers of the California State Parks Foundation Gala (2013) for Johnson Fain. In 2015, he oversaw Gensler’s Fifty60 (50th anniversary/leaders’ 60th birthday). And from 2016-2018, he produced all of Walter P Moore’s events including the LA office opening, national level receptions with dignitaries and major crossover events with SCI-Arc, the architecture school. In 2018, Akira joined LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics) and was one of two producers on their gala and leadership bootcamp events, in addition to participating as an event producer at large-scale community events for Little Tokyo.

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In 2017, Akira formed the Los Angeles Inception Orchestra, a nonprofit organization mentoring under-represented students in music composition. As President and Artistic Director, Akira designed all programming and grew the organization to now feature the top studio musicians in Hollywood as mentors. Through Inception, Akira has been a speaker at SXSW EDU, Amplify Music and Digital Hollywood. He has also produced and moderated multiple on-line events and recording sessions, and is excited to continue educating for years to come. He currently serves on the Board of the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC).

 

This year, Akira is grateful to be building programs in the disability space through the Fox Family Foundation. He designed a leadership training externship program for six blind and visually impaired Fox Fellows and led the team in producing our first Vision Fair on October 15, 2022.

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