Takumi Kakimoto is an award-winning pianist and composer based in Los Angeles.​ 

 

He was born in Himeji, Japan, and started playing the piano at six. He studied at the Yamaha Music School and began learning jazz when he was in high school. Later on, he studied with jazz pianist Minoru Ozone.  In 2014, he was awarded a full-tuition scholarship from Berklee College of Music and graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Performance and Jazz Composition. He is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Jazz Composition at the University of Southern California under the mentorship of Vince Mendoza. 

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His performance and compositions have been recognized in winning multiple awards, including the BMI Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize, ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards, DownBeat Student Music Awards, and the Yamaha Music Foundation Grant. Not only as a composer, but also as an arranger, he enjoys arranging different styles of music for various instrumentation from a solo to a big band and a full orchestra. His recent arranging work includes the orchestral arrangement of Quincy Jones' Ironside's Theme and Sanford and Son's Theme arranged for the Quincy Jones Symphonic, a tribute concert held at the University of Southern California, conducted by Anthony Parnther. 

 

He also has a unique extended experience as a ballet pianist, serving for renowned ballet companies such as Boston Ballet and American Contemporary Ballet.​​​