Biography

Thomas Yamada is a Los Angeles-based composer writing for both the screen and the concert stage. He is attending USC and pursuing a Master of Music in Screen Scoring.

Recent media music projects include scoring the winning Coca-Cola Refreshing Films commercial, “Ticket to Everywhere”, screening nationwide in the U.S. and Canada in AMC, Cinemark, and B&B theaters, and conducting and recording an orchestra at Hollywood Scoring for an animated film. Yamada was also a music librarian intern at Warner Bros. Discovery.

In March 2025, he premiered his concert band work “An Apricot in the Clouds” with the Chapman University Wind Symphony under the direction of Mathieu Girardet.

Honors include the Conservatory of Music Award (2025), Chapman’s highest student award in the conservatory, the Smith Composition Award (2025), Presser Scholar (2025), and the Musician’s Club of Orange County Award (2024).

Yamada obtained a Bachelor of Music in Composition summa cum laude from Chapman University, studying under Dr. Vera Ivanova, Dave Volpe, and Nolan Markey.

USC Screen Scoring Portfolio