Described by the press as "a remarkable 'cellist who possesses both intellect and innate musicality... one of the finest cellists of his generation" (Chopin magazine Japan), Japanese 'cellist YOSHIKA MASUDA has performed throughout Australia, Japan, China, Mexico, the USA, the UK and much of western Europe as a soloist and chamber musician. He is the winner of national competitions in Australia, Japan and the US, and was also awarded the prestigious YAMAHA Music Foundation of Europe String Award.
YOSHIKA MASUDA
Born in Kobe, Japan, Yoshika first started playing the cello at the age of five but moved to Australia as a young child where he began his studies with Georg Pedersen at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He then studied extensively with Hannah Roberts and Ralph Kirshbaum, whilst also receiving close musical guidance from Thomas Demenga and David Geringas. Yoshika graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music in the UK with distinction and received the Principal’s Prize along with the Leonard Rose Cello Award for outstanding achievement. He gained his D.M.A. from the USC Thornton School of Music.
Chamber music forms the core of Yoshika’s musical endeavours, and he has performed alongside esteemed artists such as Peter Frankl, Bruno Giuranna, Gil Kalish, Cho-Liang Lin, Alissa Margulis, Roger Tapping, Don Weilerstein, Qian Zhou and the Kronos Quartet. He is the co-founder and cellist of the Darshan Trio and the SAKURA cello quintet, as well as being the resident cellist for Salastina LA. He was also the former cellist of the award-winning Rolston Quartet with whom he toured the US, Canada and Europe.
Yoshika has performed at the festivals of Aldeburgh and Leicester in the UK, Festival Amfiteatrof in Italy, Kirishima Music Festival in Japan, and the Yellow Barn Music Festival and Piatigorsky International Cello Festival in the USA. His performances were broadcast widely on ABC Classic FM (Australia), BBC Radio 3 (UK), Musiq’3 (Belgium), Klassik Radio (Germany), KUSC (USA) and Concertzender Radio (The Netherlands).
A keen advocate of contemporary music, Yoshika enjoys collaborating with composers on a regular basis, and has given the US & world premieres of works by Reena Esmail, Toshio Hosokawa, Derrick Skye, Kian Ravaei, Bent Sørensen, Nick Strimple and Jörg Widmann.
Yoshika demonstrates a strong commitment to community engagement by frequently collaborating with Street Symphony, an organisation that utilises music to foster human connections within homeless and incarcerated communities, with a particular focus on downtown Los Angeles' Skid Row.
His interests outside of the classical genre have led him to perform with artists such as Ben Folds at the Sydney Opera House and Pink Martini at the Hollywood Bowl. Yoshika is also featured on Leonard Cohen's last album 'You Want It Darker', which was released in October 2016 on Columbia Records.
Yoshika is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of young cellists - his students have had successes in both local and national competitions, as well as being admitted to prestigious institutions such as Juilliard, NEC, MSM, and USC. Yoshika is currently the Assistant Professor of 'cello and Director of String Studies at Chapman University Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music.
He has also served on the summer faculty of the Montecito International Music Festival, Heartland Chamber Music Festival and the Yellow Barn Young Artist Program.
