Despite only having left St Margaret’s four years ago, Akari Komoto (’21) is a true maestro – she is a composer, musical director, pianist, and arranger, among other things. Music has always been a significant part of Akari’s life, commencing her piano training at the age of four. Composing and musical theatre, however, were not originally part of Akari’s repertoire. Rather, these were areas that Akari resisted exploring, but her time at St Margaret’s changed her perspective:

“I owe much of my current path to St Margaret’s, and specifically to my high school mentor, Brad King. He played a pivotal role in reshaping my perspective. I vividly remember dreading the composition unit in Grade 9 – I dreaded that class every week. The idea of creating my own music felt completely foreign, even overwhelming at first.”

This dreaded class, however, planted a seed for Akari’s passion for writing, as well as later classes in the music program.

“Similarly, in Grade 10, we studied musical theatre. At the time, my only frame of reference was High School Musical and cheesy jazz hands. But after diving deeper into the history and artistry of the genre, I found myself hooked. It’s been a love affair ever since.”

Akari’s musical, Tales of a Love Story, is inspired by a true story, having been moved to create the piece after watching a close friend of hers navigate both the uplifting and tumultuous sides of love.

“As I see it, the piece delves into the many facets of love; its joys, its struggles, and its transformative power. It’s a story about redefining love, about looking beyond the surface to uncover the connections that shape who we are and who we can become.

“The process took about three years, with many ups and downs. It was my first time writing a musical, so there was a lot of trial and error – after all, there’s no real ‘how-to’ guide for writing a successful musical. I began by developing characters, each representing a different aspect of love, and wrote songs that reflected those themes. This was by far the most difficult part, as I would often end up writing five to ten different versions of a song – or sometimes, completely new ones – before I was satisfied.

“Once the songs were in place, the script writing, including the dialogue, flowed much more naturally. The next step was orchestrating the music for a seven-piece band, and the final, most rewarding phase was rehearsing with my cast and band.”

Yet this creative process can be quite solitary. Much of the developmental stage, the writing and the creating is done completely alone, only coming to life and to a collaborative stage once the rehearsals begin. For Akari, this is the most fulfilling stage: seeing her work come to life.

“I’ll never forget the feeling during our first script read-through – hearing my cast bring my dialogue to life with their own ideas and inflections was such a surreal experience. On top of that, live theatre is incredibly rewarding because it offers instant feedback. Hearing the audience cheer loudly or laugh at the silly moments is such an exhilarating experience as a writer.”

Akari’s mentor, Brad King, flew to Perth to see Tales of a Love Story and shared some words on Akari’s work:

“I can remember how engaged Akari was when we completed the musical theatre unit and I can remember it looking like these lightbulbs were coming on for her in terms of finding something that she was really passionate about. I loved seeing the passion that was ignited as I saw her love for musical theatre to grow.

“I couldn’t be more proud to see how far she’s grown in her compositional skills, in her orchestration skills, in her ability to write lyrics, and to bring that all together to create something so magical and something that connects with an audience to evoke so much emotion and wonderful storytelling.”

After the success of Tales of a Love Story, Akari is looking toward grand plans for her next musical endeavour:

“While my show went incredibly well, I have to admit I was exhausted after months of preparation. I expected to feel burnt out well into the start of this year, but just five days after the final performance, I was already itching to start writing my next musical. It’s still in the very early stages of development, but my goal is to create my first full-length musical as my final graduation project at the end of this year.

“I also feel incredibly fortunate to explore multiple creative pathways – not just composing musicals, but also musical directing for other productions and performing in live bands and orchestras. With several exciting projects lined up this year and the opportunity to study an honours program at WAAPA (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts), it’s shaping up to be an inspiring and fulfilling year ahead.”

We can’t wait to see what Akari will create next and look forward to sharing her future projects and successes. 

By Lizzie Fowler (’19)

Relationships and Mentoring Manager