Keiko Yamanaka, born in 1970 in Osaka (Japan), immigrated to Vancouver in 1982. She studied organ and composition at the University of Western Ontario, graduating with a Bachelor of Music in 1993. She went on to study composition with Brian Cherney and work in the Electronic Music Studio at McGill University in Montreal, graduating with a Master of Music in 1999. She was awarded a prize in the SOCAN Competition, attended the Domaine Forget Festival with Jonathan Harvey, and was selected for a reading session with the Arditti Quartet at the International String Quartet Festival “Strings of the Future” in Ottawa.