The bay area creative music community mourns the passing of Toyoji Tomita on April 17, 2008. He will be greatly missed.

Toyoji Tomita studied trombone at the Juilliard School of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music, as well as the didjeridu and modern trombone repertoire with Stuart Dempster. In 1976 he won the First Prize in the Gaudeaumus International competition for Interpreters of Modern Music in Rotterdam, Holland. Living in Paris, France for the next three years, he toured Europe extensively both as a soloist and as a member of the Ensemble Musique Vivante, Diego Masson director. During this time, he worked with John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Vinko Globokar. He received an M.F.A. in electronic composition from Mills College in 1986. He is a co-founder of the Mills College Didjeridu Ensemble.