Alfred Reed is the most frequently performed composer and arranger of music for wind bands and orchestras in the world -- and he's enormously popular here in Japan. The Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra alone has recorded no less than 18 CDs of his compositions.

As a teenager, Reed began his professional career playing trumpet at resort hotels in New York's Catskill Mountains. At 23, he drew notice when his "Russian Christmas Music" was broadcast on NBC Radio, and the piece soon became a standard number in the wind repertoire. And all this before the composer started his studies at Julliard.

Now 82, Reed remains a prolific composer and vigorous conductor. He has enjoyed a lengthy affiliation with the Senzoku Gakuen Wind Orchestra, and on June 17 he will lead them in a concert.