Trained as a vocal performer first, he explores the musical landscape of drama, space, and emotion. Masatora received a BA in Integrated Human Studies from Kyoto University and studied music at Koyo Conservatory. Since relocating to the United States, he earned a MM in Composition from New Jersey City University and studied in the BMI-Lehman Engle Musical Theatre Workshop, and is completing a DMA in Composition at Five Towns College. Masatora was a 2011-2012 Diversity Doctoral Fellow at SUNY Purchase where he taught and developed a music theater project about Douglas MacArthur’s five-year reign of Japan.