Kaoru Watanabe (Born July 3, 1975) is a Japanese-American composer, flautist, percussionist, improviser, curator, and artistic director.

Kaoru was born to Japanese parents Haruka and Ayako Watanabe in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 3, 1975. His parents were a violinist and a harpist in the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.^[1] He is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied jazz flute and saxophone.^[2]

Post-graduation, Watanabe moved to Japan in 1997, where he studied nohkan under Hiroyuki Matsuda of the Morita School, shinobue under Kyosuke Suzuki of the Wakayama Shachu and drumming under Tosha Kiyonari at Nihon Taiko Dojo. In 1999, he joined the Sado Island-based taiko group Kodo. Watanabe became the first American performer and artistic director of Kodo.^[3] While with Kodo, Watanabe worked with artists Zakir Hussain, Giovanni Hidalgo, Carlos Nunez, jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita and Kabuki actor Bando Tamasaburo

Watanabe is a well known collaborator working with artists like Wes Anderson, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Laurie Anderson, Jason Moran, Yo-Yo Ma, Eva Yerbabuena, Silkroad Ensemble, and Rhiannon Giddens, among others.^[4] He is also working on film music, contributed to the music in movies like Silence,^[5] "Ultraman: Rising",^[6] "Shrek Forever After”,^[7] and "Isle of Dogs".^[8] Since 2017 he has collaborated with Adam Rudolph in his albums and live performances.^[9][10]

In 2024, Watanabe served as the artistic director of the Bloodlines Interwoven Festival, featuring artists like Layale Chaker, Mino Cinélu, Amir ElSaffar, Matt Garrison, Maeve Gilchrist, Alicia Hall Moran, Susie Ibarra, Martha Redbone, Jen Shyu, Nasheet Waits, Du Yun, Jeffrey Zeigler and others.^[11]

• Official website