Photo by Sam Gaetz.

Chihiro Yasufuku・

安福知優 (she/her)

is an early-career portfolio artist of Japanese descent, currently based in Tkarón:to, Ontario. Driven by a love for culture, psychology and curation, she garners creative inspiration from the raw human emotions that fuel, at times absorb, and interlace our lives. 

With a background of 20 years of study as a violinist which eventually expanded its roots to singing, Chihiro is an active vocalist, actor and performer-collaborator in opera, theatre and workshop spaces. She has most recently lived in the shoes of Fumiko (Hana’s Suitcase), Miranda (The Tempest Songbook), Nausicaa (Castaway), Cathleen (Riders to the Sea) and Noa (The Observer Effect). In earlier years, she offered moving performances in supporting roles including Phoebe (Lysistrata) and Ottavia (L'incoronazione di Poppea), expressing “indignation at Nero discarding her for his new lover Poppea with a strong musical outburst” (Opera Canada)

In 2021, Chihiro co-founded the Hibiki Project, a collective committed to expanding the prominence of Japanese and related musical genres within and beyond the community. Hibiki has strived to connect like-minded artists in the creation, exploration and performance of Hōgaku, previously made difficult from inherent barriers that persist for artists who do not meet systemic cultural labels. Hibiki most recently released their EP, Reminiscence, and the collective now embarks on their first commission project, Reimu.

When not on the stage or pursuing her studies as a violinist, Chihiro nurtures her passion for arts administration. This summer will see Chihiro as Assistant Company Manager of the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity’s Interplay: Opera program. In previous seasons, she served as Production Assistant to Amplified Opera’s digital development workshop, Infinity Café, and was Associate Producer of the concert series, AMPLIFY 1.0.

A strong advocate of Japanese recital and choral repertoire, Chihiro has also offered Japanese lyric diction coaching for clients in the Greater Toronto Area including Soundstreams Choir 21, Brampton Children’s Chorus and Exultate Chamber Singers. She served on Faculty with The Marigold Music Program’s Summer Music Intensive in 2021 and 2022.

Chihiro is an alumna of the University of Toronto’s Opera School and Classical Voice Performance program. She currently studies with Dr. Lorna MacDonald.