Yutaka Yamada, born in 1989, is a Los Angeles-based music composer celebrated for his distinctive and emotive work. He rigorously studied musical composition at the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music and launched his career in 2009 by winning the first prize at the Vienna Instruments Strings Arrangement Contest. Demonstrating a breadth of talent, Yamada also collaborates with various pop and EDM artists to produce songs, enhancing his musical portfolio beyond scoring.
Yamada is globally recognized for his compositions for the Netflix series "Alice in Borderland", "Great Pretender", and "Vinland Saga", as well as the anime series "Tokyo Ghoul". His music for "Tokyo Ghoul" has been particularly well-received, with related videos amassing over 130 million views on YouTube.
In 2018, Yamada lent his musical expertise to "Cry Me a Sad River", a successful Chinese film that grossed USD $51 million. His composition "Glassy Sky (from "Tokyo Ghoul")" caught the attention of eminent rapper Eminem, who sampled it in his song "Good Guy" from the "Kamikaze" album in the same year.
His work on the 2019 Sony Pictures' live-action film "Kingdom" earned him the 43rd Japan Academy Film Prize for Outstanding Music Score. In 2020, Yamada's music for Wit Studio's "Great Pretender" was nominated for Crunchyroll Anime Awards: Best Score and Best Opening. Yamada's association with Riot Games extends beyond his work on "Spirit Blossom", as he also contributed to the creation of "Ahri's Theme" for League of Legends.
In a notable accomplishment in 2023, Yamada was awarded the prestigious Jerry Goldsmith Award for his exceptional work on "Vinland Saga Season 2". Today, he is represented by Soundtrack Music Associates and has transitioned his production base from Tokyo to Sonic Fuel Studios in Los Angeles, continuing to push boundaries in the global music landscape.