Kotoko Saito

Kotoko Saito received a bachelor’s degree from Kobe College, Japan and then she studied at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatorio of Milan, Italy. She was a visiting fellow at the University of Southern California. She won Concorso di Lirica Italiana (Italian Opera Competition) and was awarded many other prizes in international vocal competitions. While enthusiastically teaching students as a Professor of Voice at School of Music at Kobe College, she has been singing major roles in such operas as Madam Butterfly, Norma, Tosca, Marriage of Figaro, Lucia of Lammermoor, La Traviata, Rigoletto, etc. She has also given many recitals in Japan and abroad. In addition, she has been invited to adjudicate numerous competitions both in Japan and abroad. She is a representative of the vocal category of the Osaka International Music Competition, which gave her “the best teacher” award of the vocal category in 2010. She has greatly contributed to nurturing the Voice society, and succeeded in upbringing the new professional singers. Recently, she was designated as Person of Cultural Merit by several prefectures in Japan. For the past six years, she has fulfilled the role of the President of Kobe College.