Jury

KIMURA Toshimitsu

Japan; Baritone

Mr. KIMURA Toshimitsu graduated from Toho Gakuen College Music Department and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. In 1967 he won first prize in the Japan Music Competition and relocated to Europe in 1968. In 1969 he won first prizes in both Verviers and Francesc Viñas International Competitions. In 1971 he achieved the highest rank in the Munich International Music Competition and won the grand prix in the Giraud Opera in 1973. Mr. KIMURA also received the Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists from the Japanese Minister of Education in 1974. From 1970 to 1986 he performed as a singer under an exclusive contract with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein. When returning to Japan in 1986, Mr. KIMURA retained the right of lifetime employment a first as an Asian. In 1996 at the early age of 52, he became a recipient of the Japan Art Academy Prize a first for a male singer, and later received the Purple Ribbon Medal in 2010, the Order of the Rising Sun, the Gold Rays with Rosette in 2016.
He is a former director of the Opera Studio of New National Theatre, Tokyo and is currently a professor emeritus of Toho Gakuen College Music Department.
Mr. KIMURA has been engaged in this competition since its inception, as a jury until the 6th competition and as a chairperson of the committee of jury from the 7th competition.