Yuki Kajiura

Biography

Yuki Kajiura (梶浦 由記, Kajiura Yuki; born August 6, 1965) is a Japanese composer, arranger and music producer. She has provided the music for several popular anime series, such as Sword Art Online, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero, The Garden of Sinners, Pandora Hearts, and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.
As a composer, Kajiura is known for her musical motifs and leitmotifs, as well as for her fusion of contemporary classical music and electronic music.

Biography

Kajiura was born on August 6, 1965, in Tokyo, Japan. She has been into music since 1972, accompanying her father on the piano. Her family later moved to West Germany because of her father's work. Kajiura wrote her first composition when she was seven years old titled "Thank you, Good-bye" as a farewell for her grandmother before leaving Japan.
Kajiura moved back to Japan when she was in middle school and later graduated from college. She worked as a systems engineering programmer until 1992, when she decided to focus more on music. In 1993, she joined the group See-Saw with Chiaki Ishikawa.
In 2002, See-Saw created music for the anime .hack//Sign. During the production of the series, Kajiura met Emily Bindiger; impressed by her vocals, Kajiura offered her to perform over 10 of the series' songs. She jokingly called Bindiger "her English teacher" at Anime Expo 2003.
In 2003, Kajiura signed with FlyingDog to form FictionJunction Yuuka with Yūka Nanri. In 2004, the duo produced the opening and ending songs for Madlax. The next year, they published their first collaborative album, Destination.
In 2008, Kajiura signed with SME Records to form Kalafina. The group consists of Wakana Ootaki, Keiko Kubota, and Hikaru Masai.
In 2009, Kajiura started a new project called FictionJunction. Unlike FictionJunction Yuuka, vocalists in this project are not fixed. The project involves collaboration with artists such as Aira Yūki, Kaori Oda, and the members of Kalafina.
In October 2007, it was announced that Yuki Kajiura would be attending the performances of the Eminence Orchestra's concert, 'A Night in Fantasia 2007 – Symphonic Anime Edition', as a special guest.
The 2014 series Aldnoah.Zero's opening theme "Heavenly Blue" was composed by Kajiura and performed by Kalafina.
In July 2016, Aniplex of America announced that the "Yuki Kajiura LIVE ~featuring SWORD ART ONLINE~" concert that took place in March 2016 in Japan would be having an additional date on January 14, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, but it was later canceled due to visa issues.
In December 2017, a source reported to a news site, Sponchi Annex, that Kajiura was planning to leave her agency, Spacecraft Produce, over contract disputes. In February 2018, Kajiura confirmed via Twitter that she left her agency.
Kajiura has performed internationally at various anime conventions, including Anime Expo 2003, Anime Boston 2009 (with Kalafina), Anime Expo 2012 (with FictionJunction), and Anime Expo 2018 (as part of Anisong World Matsuri).
Kajiura is now represented by FictionJunction Music, a talent agency she founded herself.