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The Japanese bass-baritone, Hirotaka Kato (Japanese: 加藤 宏隆),, obtained his Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Tokyo University of the Arts, where he performed Guglielmo in W.A. Mozart's Così fan tutte and Gubetta in Lucrezia Borgia. After he received his bachelor’s, he made his professional opera debut as Papageno in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with Hamamatsu City Opera in Japan. From 2004 to 2007, he was a member of Seiji Ozawa's Ongaku-Juku Opera Project. He also has been featured as a soloist with many orchestras in Japan.
Hirotaka Kato came to the USA for extended study of singing. Hae completed the Master's program in voice at at the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University. At Peabody, he performed several opera roles, including Bartolo in W.A. Mozart's in Il nozze di Figaro, Lindorf and Dr. Miracle in The Tales of Hoffmann, and Harasta in The Cunning Little Vixen. Since 2009, he was a student in the Performer Diploma Program at Indiana University: Jacobs Scholl of Music, where he studied with Andreas Poulimenos. In fall 2009, he appeared with Indiana University Opera Theater as Speaker in Die Zauberflöte and Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia. He created the role of Paul Gauguin in the World Premiere of Bernard Rands’ Vincent at Indiana University. His work in the USA was well received by newspapers such as the Herald Times (Indiana) and the Baltimore Sun (Maryland). In summer 2010, he was a Fellow at Aspen Music Festival. He also studied in Florence, Italy.
After returning to Japan, Hirotaka Kato has performed extensively at solo recitals, concerts, and music festivals. He performed the roles of Pistol in Falstaff at the Tokyo Spring Spring Music Festival, and at the Tokyo Nikikai, Judge in Don Carlo, Samurai in Mahou, Kaspar in Der Freischütz, Osmin in W.A. Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Jewish 5 in Salome. Recent performances include: Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Nissay Theatre, Tokyo (November 2016); Gamekeeper in Rusalka at Nissay Theatre, Tokyo (November 2017); Kaspar in Der Freischütz at Tokyo Nikikai Opera (July 2018); Le Dancaïre in Georges Bizet's Carmen at Tokyo Nikikai Opera (October 2019-January 2020); Simone in Gianni Schicch at Biwako Hall, Otsu (April 2020). He is also a member of Bach Collegium Japan (Director: Masaaki Suzuki). |
