Keiko Kubota

Keiko began her singing career alongside many other familiar names (Wakana, Kaori, Yoshida Yuuki, Ito Ayaka) when she was sponsored by Spacecraft, a talent agency in Japan. She performed with these other girls in various small concerts. Her recording career took off when she collaborated with the renowned composer Yuki Kajiura on an insert song for the Tsubasa CHRoNiCLE anime. The song, "Kaze no Machi he," featured a vocal style that Kajiura had not previously focused on, showcasing an alto range. This made Keiko stand out among the few dozen vocalists credited alongside Kajiura, earning her the title FictionJunction KEIKO, an honor that only a select few collaborations can claim. After recording and releasing this song, Keiko teamed up with her friend Ito Ayaka to form the duo "Itokubo." They recorded a song for a Japanese video game ("Beautiful Katamari") and performed together for about two years before disbanding in January 2007. In mid-2007, Yuki Kajiura was approached to create the soundtrack for the Kara no Kyoukai movie series. Given the unique nature of the project—multiple films with different themes all connected by the same music—she decided to hold auditions for a new group called "Kalafina," which would perform the ending themes for each movie. Keiko auditioned and became one of two vocalists in Kalafina, alongside fellow FictionJunction vocalist Wakana. Kalafina released their first single, "Oblivious," featuring the ending songs for the first three Kara no Kyoukai films. At this point, Sony, the label that Kalafina had signed with, held auditions to add two more members to the group. Out of 30,000 applicants, Hikaru and Maya joined for the Sprinter/ARIA single, although Maya left shortly after. Following the release of various singles for other projects, including the Lacrimosa single, they launched a full album titled "Seventh Heaven," which included all seven Kara no Kyoukai themes and additional tracks. Around the same time Kalafina was starting out, Yuki Kajiura began performing live concerts. The first concert took place in April 2008, featuring four vocalists—Wakana, Yuriko Kaida, Kaori, and Keiko—singing popular songs from Kajiura's numerous soundtracks. The concert's