NNT Opera Studio

For aspiring opera singers, performing in opera houses abroad is a big dream. It is only natural that they would want to pursue the real thing. Although opera in Japan has developed substantially along with the New National Theatre Tokyo, performing opportunities are still limited.

We consider the Opera Studio as a step before venturing out into the world. We teach and practise the skills necessary to become a world-class singer from a multifaceted approach. How to interpret the score, which is the basis of everything, and how to connect the music and acting to expression. The singers will learn and master the styles and techniques through practice, and prepare to become “true interpreters” and “true stage performers”. All our Japanese lecturers and guest lecturers from abroad are experienced professionals on the international stage, so it is also a place where singers can obtain the latest information in the ever-changing world of opera.

Having a dream is also the beginning of struggles. It may involve great sacrifices to achieve it. However, it is our hope that our young singers will overcome these obstacles and develop fully, and we would like to help them on their journey.

SATO Masahiro graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts, vocal music department and completed the master course of piano accompaniment at the Juilliard School. After working as an exclusive pianist at the San Francisco Opera, he became the chief korrepetitor of Opéra de Lyon at the invitation of Kent Nagano in 1995. He also worked as an assistant to Myung-Whun Chung and Valery Gergiev at Théâtre du Châtelet and Wiener Festwochen, among others. In 1999, he made his conductor debut conducting Idomeneo at the Dartington Music Summer Festival. The next year, he conducted Ariadne auf Naxos at the same festival and he made his Japan debut conducting the NNTT's pit opera Orfeo ed Euridice.

To date, he has conducted the Educational Programme for High School Students Tosca at the NNTT, Un ballo in maschera and La Traviata at the Fujiwara Opera, Japan premiere of French version of Don Carlos, L'Enfant prodigue, Djamileh, La Voix humaine and L'Arlésienne at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, among others. He has also conducted Japanese operas like Byacco which received Sagawa Yoshio Music Award and Toi Ho (Distant Sail) composed by Miyoshi Akira. He has also led many orchestras including the Yomiuri Nioppon Symphony Orchestra and Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and worked as a accompanist for vocal concerts and recordings.

Currently he is the Music Director of Kobe City Chorus, the Principal Conductor of Keio University Wagner Male Chorus, a lecturer at the Tokyo University of the Arts, and a project associate professor at the Musashino Academia Musicae.