Yusuke Koike Yusuke KoikeBaritone

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Yusuke Koike graduated from the Vocal Music Department of Tokyo University of the Arts, receiving the Doseikai Prize and the Acanthus Music Prize, and completed the university’s graduate programme in voice at the top of his class, receiving the Graduate Acanthus Music Prize. He studied voice with Futoshi Katsube, Yoji Kawakami and Jun Hagiwara, and German Lieder with Mitsuko Shirai.

Joining the Bach Cantata Club as a student drew him deeply into early music. Beginning with Gregorian chant and medieval repertoire, he has built a career rare in Japan that centres on two fields: Baroque sacred music and Romantic song.

As a vocal member of Bach Collegium Japan (BCJ) he performs and records in Japan and abroad, appearing at international festivals including the BBC Proms (UK) and Bachfest Leipzig (Germany). He is increasingly active as a concert soloist.

At the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival (formerly the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto) he was coached in German Lieder by Mitsuko Shirai in the OMF Chamber Music Study Programme “Lied Duo”. The experience led him to devote himself to the Lied, and he now gives concerts with projected Japanese surtitles in his own translations.

He directs the concert series “Ongaku no Hanataba” (A Bouquet of Music), Liederabende for four voices that interweave solo songs, vocal ensembles and solo piano works in a continuous programme, presenting the changing drama of music and poetry across a single evening together with surtitles.

He conducts the Bach no Mori Choir and, widely respected as a teacher, is invited as vocal trainer by several choirs. At Arioka Music Studio, Shin-Okachimachi, which he runs with his wife, pianist Nao Arioka, he teaches voice and works to spread the culture of art song.