Around the Music Festival

Japan’s leading soprano singer Shinobu Sato passed away on September 29th. She was 61 years old. Born in Tokyo. After graduating from Kunitachi College of Music, she graduated at the top of the list from the Agency for Cultural Affairs Opera Studio. In 1984, she made her debut by singing the title role at the performances of “Merry Widow” and “La traviata”. After that, she went to Milan as an artist trainee at the Agency for Cultural Affairs.

After returning to Japan, she played title roles such as “Tosca” and “Madama Butterfly” one after another. With its gorgeous presence and rich singing, She gained wide popularity. In 1997, she played the role of Princess Ototachibana in opera “Takeru”, which was opening performance of the new national theater tokyo. Her husband is Shigeo Genda, the conductor.

She was also active overseas and made her European debut at the 1988 Bratislava Music Festival by singing the title role of “Tosca”. Later, she sang title role of “Madama Butterfly” at the Vienna State Opera, and performed in the Cologne Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin. In 1999, she was invited to the “Velvet Revolution 10th Anniversary Concert” in Prague and performed with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy.

She has won numerous awards such as the Tokyo Citizen’s Culture Award and the Grand Prize of the “Giraud Opera Award”, which represents Japan. In addition to releasing 14 CDs, she has written books such as “Encounter with harmony” and “Singing voices connect hearts”. She was also actively engaged in charity activities such as donating to activities for children around the world living in harsh environments.

Photo：satoshinobu-ag.com