One Voice, eight years strong

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2009, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Masa Fukuda has been directing the acclaimed world-class One Voice Children's Choir since it was the official children's chorus of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

The Brigham Young University graduate has donated thousands of hours directing the 120-member choir since then, leading it through 40 to 50 concerts a year, and he hasn't ever received a dime for his efforts.

But the 33-year-old musician got married in October. Surely, now he will relinquish his position, right?

Wrong. "The choir is something I would never want to let go of," said Fukuda earlier this week, the morning after his choir performed its annual Christmas concert. "Seeing lives change makes everything worth it."

Having the capacity, and the ability, to make lives change is why Fukuda's choir, about to celebrate its eighth anniversary, has a waiting list of more than 50 children.

Stephanie Hess, of Bountiful, said her 10-year-old daughter, Makenzie, learns much more from the choir than just singing because of Fukuda's focus on holding concerts for the less fortunate, whether it's singing fundraisers for other nonprofits or performing at nursing homes or other events. "We do a lot of charities for other people," Makenzie said. "It is really fun."

"She misses movies and some playtime with her friends," Hess says, "but she always does it with a smile because she loves to sing."

Michelle Neel, of Riverton, had a son who was in another choir before joining One Voice. But her son was frustrated that after months and months of rehearsing, the choir had performed only three concerts. Nicholas Neel, now 12, says he loves to sing, and sing often, due to the "rush of excitement" he feels when he performs.

In the three years he has been a member of One Voice, he's become a better singer and has increased his confidence, honed his interpersonal skills and developed friendships in an environment that his mother terms "a happy family feeling."

The story of how Fukuda came to lead the Utah choir is compelling.

Born and raised in Osaka, Japan, the always-smiling Fukuda was a musical prodigy. He wrote his first piano composition, "Lonely Winter," when he was 4.

At 8, he was enrolled in the challenging and exclusive Yamaha Music School, where for four years he received college-level education in music composition as well as training in working with ensembles. At school, he decided he wanted to train a children's choir when he was older. "They taught us to take what we learned and bless people with this music," he said.

When he was about to enter his sophomore year of high school, he decided to become an exchange student and landed in Utah -- and he has never left. Fukuda attended the private Meridian School in Provo (now in Orem) where he met music professors from Brigham Young University, and thanks to their skilled instruction, he decided to attend BYU.

At BYU, he learned about a project for local composers to contribute music to soundtracks that would be sold at the Olympics. Fukuda has never been competitive, and at the time believed that artists such as Kurt Bestor and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir were in a higher echelon of musical skill. On a whim, he composed a song called "It Just Takes Love."

To his surprise, his composition -- along with music by Bestor and songs performed by the Tabernacle Choir -- was included on one of the locally produced soundtracks. "It Just Takes Love" was selected as the theme song of the 2002 Winter Olympic Children's Choir. Many of the singers who recorded for the CD also volunteered as "children of light" during the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and Fukuda volunteered to help these children during the many events during the Olympics.

Fukuda returned to BYU to continue his studies, but he heard from nearly three dozen of the children who had sung in the Olympic choir. "When the event was over and the flame went out," Fukuda said, "they wanted to stick together."

So Fukuda created a choir of children age 5 to 14 who had all sung during the Olympics.

Over the years, the choir has quadrupled in size, an advisory board has been created and it has received nonprofit status. But Fukuda's mission hasn't changed: to create a nurturing, tolerant environment with high standards and a commitment to singing uplifting songs.

And Fukuda counts on an eternal round of new recruits interested in singing in his choir. "This state will never stop having children," he says.