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Grave of the Fireflies Composer Michio Mamiya Dies at 95
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
His family held a vigil on December 17, and a funeral on December 18.
Born in Hokkaido, Mamiya studied at the Tokyo Music School (the modern-day Tokyo University of the Arts) under classical music composer Tomojirō Ikenouchi. He formed the composer group Yagi no Kai alongside Yūzō Toyama and Hikaru Hayashi, and their choral composition "Composition for Chorus No. 1" won the Mainichi Music Award in 1958.
Within anime, Mamiya is best known for his collaborations with Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata, composing the soundtracks for Grave of the Fireflies, Gauche the Cellist, and Horus - Prince of the Sun. He also composed the music for Yasuo Ōtsuka's Tenguri, the Boy of the Plains.
Mamiya was a prolific composer of operatic works and classical music, composing for a wide range of classical genres and forces, including choral works, concerti, chamber pieces, and pieces for orchestral as well as wind ensembles and concert bands.
His 1974 opera Narukami won a grand prix in the Salzburg Opera Festival. Some of his more recent works include an opera adaptation of novelist Yumiko Kurahashi's Popoi story in 2009, where he took up the baton personally.
Source: Asahi Shimbun via Annie Awards livestream
