Yoko Maria studied at the vocal music performer class at the Tokyo College of Music and its graduate school. She has attended numerous master classes, including the Schubertiade, where she studied with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. After her formal education she moved to Finland to study Finnish vocal music with renowned baritone Jorma Hynninen. She has a repertoire of more than 600 Finnish songs. While in Europe, she also studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with Pyotr Skousnichenko, as well as at the Karlsruhe Conservatory in Germany. She was granted permanent residence of Finland. She was christened with the name Yoko Maria in the Finnish Lutheran Church. After returning to Japan, her extensive studies and attained vocal skills were immediately recognized, as she was invited to represent Japan in the 13th international Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 2007, as well as BBC auditions in Shanghai in 2008. Her elegant and naturally extending soprano along with her refined global musical interpretation allows her to sing crossing over various genres, bringing about both amazement and praise in concert after concert. Her warm, gentle, and translucent soprano is reputed among the leading figures of various fields of music. Yoko Maria also writes her own poetry for both classical pieces and modern compositions, creating warm and compassionate new, gentle pieces, filling large audiences with warm emotions. Her crowd of fans and followers is constantly increasing year by year, ranging over oceans and continents, tickets to her concert becoming more and more coveted. She is Asia's Rising Star, a popular soprano singer, departed from the purely classical music communities, having recitals to full houses in the heart of Tokyo once a month. Her solo concert debut at the Carnegie Hall, New York, is scheduled Dec 15 2010.
