Tora-Con 2010 Announces Final Guests
ROCHESTER, NY – March 15, 2010 – RIT Anime Club is excited to announce the final guests for Tora-Con 2010: musical guest Gavin Goszka, webcomic guests Ananth Panagariya and Yuko Ota, as well as voice actor Billy West!
William Richard "Billy" West is a voice actor. He launched his career in the early 1980s performing daily comedic routines on Boston's WBCN (TOP Rock station of the time) shortly after moving on to do the revival of Beany and Cecil and was also a cast member on the Howard Stern's radio show during the early to mid 1990s.
West is best known for his voice-work on Ren & Stimpy, Doug and Futurama. His favorite characters are Philip J. Fry (Futurama) and Stimpy (Ren and Stimpy), both of which he originated. West's most notable film work was in Space Jam (1996) providing the voice of both Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd; he has provided the same voices for other Looney Tunes films and video games. West has been very outspoken over his displeasure about the influx of movie star actors providing voice-over for films and major shows.
As well as a voice artist, West is also a guitarist and singer-songwriter with a band called Billy West and The Grief Counselors.
Actor's appearance subject to studio responsibilities.
Yuko Ota and Ananth Panagariya are the creators of Johnny Wander (http://www.johnnywander.com), a twice-weekly webcomic. It alternates between charm-of-life autobiography about the authors' lives in Brooklyn, and whimsical, surreal fiction. Recent shorts include The Girl with the Skeleton Hand and Delilah and the Basilisk. Johnny Wander has been running since 2008.
Gavin Goszka started playing music at age seven and was writing and recording his own songs by seventeen. His background includes formal training in both piano and voice, self-instruction on guitar and bass, and a 10-year history of performing as a solo acoustic artist. He discovered anime music through internet radio and quickly became an avid fan, learning many of his favorite songs by ear and gradually picking up the Japanese language along the way. The idea of performing the music live came largely from a desire to share this interest with other fans, and also to audiences that may not have the opportunity to experience it otherwise.
Gavin is also a member of the gothic horror soundtrack outfit Midnight Syndicate, and has recorded modernized versions of popular songs from the Victorian era under the name Parlormuse. His latest project is an all-original English-language CD featuring vocaloid Megurine Luka.
These guests will cap off Tora-Con 2010's guest roster, joining Johnny Yong Bosch and Eyeshine, Eric Vale, Monica Rial, Chris Sabat, Armcannon and Geek Comedy Tour!
Along with these great guests, Tora-con will also host a collection of contests and panels, such as an AMV contest, Cosplay contest, Game shows, and fan panels such as the "One Piece Unofficial Podcast."
Also, Pre-registration ends March 25th. All pre-registration forms must be post-marked before this date to be considered. Everything dealing with pre-registration can be found at our website!
ABOUT TORA-CON: Tora-Con was created by the Rochester Institute of Technology Anime Club to provide anime and manga related entertainment to the Rochester area and beyond. The convention is planned and prepared by a dedicated Anime Club E-Board made up of RIT students.
ABOUT RIT ANIME CLUB: Founded in the early 1990s, the RIT Anime Club is one of the largest anime clubs in the country with over 150 active members. The purpose of the RIT Anime Club is to enrich the academic environment by stimulating the growth and appreciation of Anime as an art form as well as the awareness and understanding of Japanese Culture. The RIT Anime Club is a not-for-profit organization.
Tora-Con 2010
URL: http://toracon.rit.edu/
Date: April 24-25, 2010
Rate: pre-registration $20, at-door weekend $30, at-door Saturday $20, at-door Sunday $15
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history