OUR TEAM

Vocal Coach and Founder: Paprika Mari

​Mari grew up with a love for music, having studied and trained classically in piano, vocals and music history, and even now is a professional piano/vocal/clarinet teacher. The only thing that rivaled her love for music was the depth of her anime otaku-ness, so it was only a matter of time before she burst onto the Southern California anime scene as an anisong idol!

Not content with just producing fold waves as a solo songstress, Mari also gathered a group of like-minded musicians to form the popular Anisong cover band Candy Bomber (seen most recently at AX 2019), and got in touch with her inner jazzy side as the vocalist and clarinet player for her Jazz Ensemble! 

Having performed for fans at dozens of venues, Mari is often asked the question, “How can I learn to sing and dance like you? Can you teach me?” From this often asked request Mari was inspired to become half of the driving force behind Idol Academy, and now she is thrilled to be able to say that yes, she can teach you how to perform like an idol!