Performer Details

About Us

Riho Tagawa

Mezzo Soprano

Riho Tagawa
Mezzo-soprano
Chairman of La Riho's club

Birthplace
After graduating from Kunitachi College of Music's Junior High School and Music High School, she graduated from Kunitachi College of Music's Department of Music. She studied piano under Rinko Negami, Nobuko Konno, and Momoko Hamada. She studied harmony and composition under Masanori Kato. Studied conducting and accompaniment under D. Pacitti. She has studied voice with Fumie Yamasaki, Kaei Iwabuchi, Yasuo Miyanaga, Kazuko Hata, Akira Yukawa, and Sammaritano.

Summary of Activities
Debut in the opera "Hansel and Gretel".
At the time of S.Sammaritano's visit to Japan, she went to Italy to study with Mr.Sammaritano because of her mezzo voice.
In France, she passed the artist audition and has been supported by a French businessman.
She has been a soloist in Handel's "Messiah," Mozart's "Requiem," "Coronation Mass" and other religious works, Beethoven's "Ninth," and has premiered many solo works by up-and-coming composers.
In the field of choral music, she has been invited as a judge for choral competitions and as a special lecturer.
☆ In 2018, she launched La Riho's club and has been actively involved in the promotion of opera and other cultural arts, as well as the spread of better singing techniques through her unique Tre-B system, a teaching method based on her own experiences. She has already held 15 opera lectures (Kigahon! Classic) has already been held 15 times.
In 2019, she invited Mr. Silvestro San Maritano to give a master class and spread the true bel canto method in Japan.

Recent Singing Activities
She performed at La Folle Journée, an annual classical spring festival, with Yoichi Nozaki, a famous jazz pianist and arranger/pianist of Seiko Matsuda's music (2015).
☆ Let's sing together under the direction of Mr. Yutaka Tomizawa, famous for teaching children's chorus! Alto soloist in G.F. Handel's oratorio "Messiah" by Odawara citizens (2016)
Soloist in the opera "The Story of a Water Bottle" by Yasuhide Itoh (2019)
☆ Let's Sing the Ninth in Fukui Prefecture Chorus Gathering, Alto Soloist (2018/2019)
Schoenberg: The Clown Possessed by the Moon Mezzo-soprano Soloist(2019) ☆ Fumihiro Shimizu
Kensaku Tanigawa, Mezzo-soprano soloist as Marilla in Anne of Green Gables
Masahiko Okochi, conductor: Carmen, mezzo-soprano, as Carmen (2020)

Other Singing Activities
Invited Mr. Silvestro San Maritano to Japan for a recital (2009) ☆ Performed with many percussionists and guitarists who appeared on TV
Collaboration concert with a famous calligrapher who has appeared on TV and in magazines (2012)

Performed in media such as CM and CD.
☆ Appeared on Machiko Watanabe's radio program (2015) ☆ CD major debut from Pony Canyon as Mikuriya Choir, recorded by Tetsuya Abe recording and mixing engineer, who won the Japan Professional Music Recording Award (surround sound category) ☆ Asked Yoichi Nozaki to write lyrics and music for "Zou no Hanako" and released the CD as La Luce ☆ Inserted song in Airwave commercial for bedding ☆ Inserted song in the movie "Governor Eliminated

Teaching activities in recent years
Teaching and pianist of Spring Ninth Chorus sung by cancer patients, conducted by Kazuki Yamada, appearing on NHK (2017) ☆ Teaching and pianist of Spring Ninth Chorus sung by cancer patients, conducted by Yukio Fujioka (2019), aired on MTV Invited former Milan Scala soloist and soloist training center director Mr. Silvestro as the leader of La Riho's club to give a lecture and hold a master course (2019) ☆ Choir: Call YAZAWA, Iki no Chikara, Gakugei University alumni/OG Shall we choir ☆ Sakae Ward, Yokohama City "Ninth" chorus leader/pianist, Gakushuin University alumni choir, chorus mist stella choir music staff Voice trainer for the Urawa Yukari Chorus, Voice trainer for the Nippon Steel Corporation Head Office Chorus, Expression singing instructor for Noriko Tokaihayashi, Voice trainer for the Shizuoka Verdi Chorus

Silvestro Sammaritano

Baritono

Silvestro Sammaritano
Former baritone, Teatro alla Scala, Milan
Former Director of the Resident Singer Training School at La Scala, Milan

Silvestro San Maritano was born in Sicily, Italy, the eldest son of a strict military father and a teacher mother.
When he was a student, he was sometimes asked by his teacher to sing for his beautiful voice, but he did not receive any specialized musical education.

He originally wanted to be a painter, but his father ordered him to go to university instead of being an unstable painter, so he had no choice but to graduate from the University of Economics with excellent grades. After graduation, she made a living as a painter, which was her dream, until she was 29 years old. He entered the National Conservatory of Music in Milan. He studied under Campo Galliani, who was also Pavarotti's teacher, but soon left the conservatory as he had nothing to teach.... He further studied with tenors Giacinto Prandelli and Alfredo Kraus, and especially learned breathing techniques, which are the heart of vocal music. Only two years after he began to study vocal music in earnest, he passed the exam to join the exclusive choir of La Scala in Milan.

While gaining experience in the Teatro alla Scala choir, he refined his singing and acting skills, expanded his repertoire, and won a number of prestigious competitions, including the Bastianini Prize (the highest prize for baritone voices) at the International Competition for the Voice of Verdi (Busseto, Italy). At the same time, he made his operatic debut as La Boheme Marcello at the Basilea Opera House.
After his debut at the Basilea Opera, he performed in many Verdi operas, including Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor and the title role in Rigoletto.
His repertoire includes Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana, Esmillo in Carmen, and Leporello in Don Giovanni.

In 1980, she signed an exclusive soloist contract with Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and appeared in every season of Teatro alla Scala for 17 years until 1997, when she went freelance.

As a result of his frequent appearances at La Scala, he was asked by Claudio Abbado to become the director of the exclusive training school for singers at La Scala.

He has collaborated with many famous conductors and singers, including Bernstein, Giulini, Muti, Oren, Seiji Ozawa, Sinopoli, and Sawallisch, as well as opera singers such as Pavarotti, Domingo, Carreras, Kraus, and Freni.
He has performed not only Italian opera, but also French, Russian, and German opera.
He has also been invited to give recitals in Italy, Germany, France, China and other countries.

He first came to Japan in 1981 to perform at La Scala, and in 1999 he became a special instructor at the New National Theatre, Tokyo.
In 1986, she appeared in the legendary production of Madame Butterfly at La Scala in Milan, directed by Keita Asari (head of the Shiki Theater Company) and costumed by Hanae Mori, and has been a close friend ever since.

He has been actively involved in training his successors and continues to teach soloists at La Scala. He has a theory that there are many people who can sing well, but teaching requires a different kind of talent and passion. As of 2019, he has a solo exhibition in Milan as a painter, and he appeared in many commercials last year. His resemblance to Verdi, the founding father of our country, has led him to appear in Verdi movies, and he is so famous that people wave at him when he gets off the plane.

He is the only active pupil in Japan (the others are soloists at La Scala in Milan, etc.), and since he has passed on all his teaching methods to Riho, he has become the world's sole agent and is providing full support for the establishment of the Silvestro Conservatory.

About Us

Yoshiaki Iwabuchi

Tenore

Yoshiaki Iwabuchi
Tenor
Born in Hokkaido, Japan, Iwabuchi graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1964. A pupil of soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, a leading German-Austrian lieder singer who was awarded the Order of the British Empire and is said to be comparable to Maria Callas. She studied with Koichi Fujimura, Ryozo Washizaki, Emiko Iiyama, Michiko Hihara, Keikichi Yatabe, R. Rich, L. Fischer, F. Matteucci, and E. Schwarzkopf. In 1973, she attended the Mozarteum Summer School in Salzburg, where she studied lieder with E. Welva and opera with A. Paulmuller. 〜As a researcher at the Kunitachi College of Music in 1983, he studied singing of songs and arias from Mozart's new complete works under Toshi Ebisawa. In 1983, he attended the E. Schwarzkopf Lieder Master Class in Tokyo, Osaka and Kusatsu. He studied oratorio in Munich.) In Munich, she studied oratorio with L. Fischer and lieder and opera arias with E. Schwarzkopf in Zurich, Switzerland. During her studies, she attended a course at the Liszt Academy of Music in Weimar. During her studies, she attended a course at the Liszt Academy of Music in Weimar, Germany, an E. Schwarzkopf Lieder Master Class held by the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Germany, and a Winter Lieder Course at the Mozarteum. While studying in Munich, he gave three concerts. In June 1985, she gave a recital in commemoration of her return to Japan of German Lieder accompanied by Colt Gerben on the piano, and in 1994, she gave a recital of Schubert's "Beautiful Daughter of the Water Mill" on the fortepiano with Michio Kobayashi. In 2004, she appeared in a concert of "Wilhelm Meister's Lieder" (featuring Tetsuhiko Hiyama, organized by the Institute of Music, Kunitachi College of Music). In August 2007, she performed at the memorial concert for E. Schwarzkopf (Kusatsu Academy, Kusatsu Music Festival). Since then, she has appeared in the Niki-kai German Song Study Group Concert, the Niki-kai Ekiden Concert, the Karl Löwe Gala Concert, Schubert Mass No. 6, and as Benoit in the opera "La Boheme" (sponsored by Office Applause). She continues to perform mainly Japanese songs, German songs, and religious music. She is a professor emeritus at Kunitachi College of Music. She is a member of the Nikijikai. She is also a member of the Niki-kai and a representative of the Niki-kai German Song Study Group. (She is a trustee of Tokyo Opera Arts, a judge at the TBS Children's Music Competition, and the leader of Neue Klang.

Makiko Ohishi

SOPRANO

Makiko Oishi
Soprano
Makiko Oishi graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts with a B.A. in Vocal Performance and a M.M. in Music from the same university. She was awarded the Acanthus Music Prize upon graduation. She performed in the Newcomer's Concert organized by the Dojo-kai of Tokyo University of the Arts, and received the Dojo-kai Award. He won the first prize in the high school division of the 17th Shizuoka Prefecture Student Music Competition. Awarded the Shizuoka Prefecture Opera Association President's Prize. Received a special commendation from the Shizuoka Prefecture Cultural Federation. First Prize in the High School Vocal Division of the 50th All Japan Student Music Competition in Tokyo, sponsored by the Mainichi Newspapers. She received the Shimada City Art and Culture Encouragement Award in 2021.
In opera, she has performed the role of Dea Geisha in the 5th Shizuoka Prefecture People's Opera "Iris" by Mascagni. She has also performed the role of Anna in Puccini's "The Fairy Villa". She has performed the role of Leonora in Verdi's Il Trovatore.
She has also appeared as a soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with Chorus and Fauré's Requiem.

Yosuke Ohishi

BARITONO

Yosuke Oishi
Baritone
Born in Kagawa Prefecture in 1979. Graduated from the Department of Voice, Faculty of Music, Tokyo University of the Arts, and completed the Graduate School of Education, Department of Music Education, Tokyo Gakugei University. Studied under Kimihiro Kumagai, Makoto Omori, and Hitoshi Naono. She has performed the roles of Guglielmo in the opera "Così fan tutte", Marcello and Seanar in "La bohème", Germont in "La traviata", Belkore in "The elixir of love", January in "The forest is alive", and Aoki in "The red devil who cried". He has also appeared as a soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with Chorus, Choral Fantasy, Mozart's Coronation Mass, Requiem, and Verdi's Requiem. She received the Shimada City Art and Culture Encouragement Award.

Kyoko Tanaka

Piano

Kyoko Tanaka
Piano

Kyoko Tanaka graduated from Toho Gakuen School of Music and completed the Ensemble Diploma at the same university. During her studies, she was awarded a scholarship from the Toho Gakuen College Alumni Association. She has studied piano with Kozue Benibayashi, harpsichord with Chiyoko Arita, chamber music with the late Miyoko Yamane and C. Ivaldi Goldberg, and corpetitore with D. Mazzola, conductor of La Scala, Milan. He has participated in the Bayreuth International Youth Arts Festival, Toyama Chamber Music Festival, and Kyoto French Music Academy. After serving as a commissioned performer at Toho Gakuen School of Music, she is currently performing as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative pianist for voice and instrumental music with musicians in Japan and abroad. She is a member of the instrumental ensemble of the Tokyo Chamber Opera.

Ikumi Kuroda

general chairperson

Ikumi Kuroda
General Emcee
Freelance Announcer

Ikumi Kuroda is a freelance announcer who has worked as an anchor and reporter for NHK, TV Asahi, and other media outlets for 16 years, and currently gives seminars on "Voice and Speech with the Power to Communicate" at various companies and educational facilities, as well as private lessons for employment and qualification exams and parent-child interviews for elementary school entrance exams. She has been collaborating with live music, reading, and storytelling at concerts in various fields, and since 2012, she has been promoting the true joy of expressing oneself with one's voice through group readings by people of all ages. The "Shine On! Summer Charity Concert 2015" was subsidized by Ota Ward's Community Power Support Fund in 2015. 2017: Organized "Bilingual Musical Charity Concert". 2018: Organized "EXPRESSION Original Musical Vol.1". In 2019, the group will host a musical play, Anne of Green Gables.

Milou Chan

mascot character

Milou-chan
Mascot Character (Logo)
Tagawa Riho's pet dog

Mil-chan, the mascot character of La Riho's club
I've been supporting La Riho's club and Riho Tagawa for 15 years now.
He's a grandpa now, but he's going for a walk in good health.

La Riho's club members-only key chains are very popular.

For more information about La Riho's club, please click here.♪

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