Toshikazu Maruno(Singer / Songwriter)

Born October, 14, 1969(in Kagoshima Prefecture)

Smooth, heartrending,and strong. Toshikazu Maruno’s voice reverberates in one’s heart. He createsmusical works and holds performances under the theme of love and hope thatoverflows in everyday life. With special fondness for music since childhood,Toshikazu spent his days singing whenever he was in the mood. However when hewas 14 years old, he got his first guitar and started up a band. It was at thistime that Toshikazu chose a musical path. In the autumn of his 15thyear, Toshikazu sang on the stage during his junior high school culturalfestival, and decided to move to Tokyo to pursue a career in music.

After moving toTokyo in the spring of 1988, Toshikazu spent the next 8 years as the vocalistin a band, which mainly played in-house live performances.

The experiencegained during this time served as the foundation to become a vocalist andsongwriter.

However, the bandbroke up in 1995, after which Toshikazu began working as a solo artist, givinglive performances. From then on, Toshikazu’s live performance style was to singsolo, accompanied by his lone acoustic guitar.

In January 1998,Toshikazu released his acoustic album, IN THE NAME OF LOVE, featuring hisacoustic guitar. This album contains “Melody mo Uta mo nai Love Song” (“A lovesong without a melody or poem”) which was awarded the monthly grand prize inthe radio show “Music Challenger” by NACK5 FM radio station in December 1998.

As a result,Toshikazu’s activities widened, leading to deeper exchanges with many localpeople, including those that contribute to society, mainly in the Kanto area.In August 2000, Toshikazu was honored to compose the image song for “New GenerationCountdown Concert” sponsored by Saitama Prefecture.

Toshikazu produceda new CD which included the song, “Power of the Future,” which expresses hisfeelings of children who carry the future.

The CD wasreleased in October, and he appeared in many countdown events and theactivities continued into 2001. However, since 2002 Toshikazu took a break fromactivities, even though he continued with his creations.

Time passes.

In August 2008,overcoming grief from the loss of his father and with many twists and turns,Toshikazu announced a mini album, STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN, which contains fivesongs about thoughts of his hometown and the bonds of family.

After releasingthe album, Toshikazu once again began his activities from Kagoshima and intothe world.

Then,

In March 2010,Toshikazu’s beloved mother passed away. With the dying wish of his parents inhis heart, Toshikazu once again began activities to express himself throughmusic.

In October 2010, Toshikazureturned to his alma mater Ijuin Junior High School and performed “Talk &Live.” At that occasion, he sang “Good Luck” which was inspired by thestudents, and presented each student with a copy of the CD.

In December 2010,Toshikazu was commissioned to produce the cheering song “Victory Road” forHokkaido Japan Ham Fighters’ (current as of 2014) pitcher, Hiroshi Kisanuki, fromthe same town.

In 2011, alongwith the sale of a photo album of sumo yokozuna Sho Hakuho photos, Hokuho’scheering song, “Power of the Future” was chosen for the Hokoho Photo Project.

In October 2011 continuedfrom the previous year, Toshikazu performed “Talk & Live” at his almamater, Ijuin Junior High School.

In the summer of 2012,Toshikazu wrote the song “Kimimachi Zaka” with lyrics by Singer SongwriterToshiro Takaba, ocarina flute instrumentalist, and produced the CD.

From May 2013, “KyouIchiban no Egao de~ Best Smile~” was chosen as the opening song for “Museca♪Style” on FM Ginga (Kagoshima communityradio).

“~KIZUNA~” wasreleased in August 2011, and the album “Graduation Songbook ~Departure~” wasreleased in March 2012. The albums were released internationally through My CDStore

Toshikazu has manyoverseas fans and listeners.

And in 2014, thealbum “Gratitude” will be released with feelings of appreciation for his worldwidefriends and fans.

Today, based inJapan, Toshikazu continues to sing live with his guitar, appear in various events,and transmit and carry on activities in music with the world in mind.