Singer Makes Delayed Performance

In the fall of 1994, three faculty members from Eastern Washington University were in Japan. They invited singer and music professor Tsutomu Masuko to come to Spokane the following spring to perform and lecture.

He accepted. But then, in January of 1995, the devastating Kobe earthquake hit. Though across a bay from the worst damage, Masuko’s school - Mukogawa Women’s University in Nishinomiya - was the scene of multiple deaths and widespread destruction.

In the days after the disaster, members of the college community pulled together to help one another cope with the disruption. “Many of our students lost their houses,” said Masuko.

Schedules and plans were in disarray. It was no time for him to leave. His trip had to be postponed.

So he set his sights on coming to Spokane in 1996. This time, he made it.

In addition to lecturing at EWU, the versatile baritone will perform in Spokane and Cheney with pianist Kendall Feeney and the Spokane String Quartet. Both recitals are free and open to the public.

His wide repertoire ranges from European opera to Japanese folk songs.

“In singing, you have to know the language,” he said. “You have to know the feeling behind the poetry.”

This isn’t his first trip to America. Masuko, 57, has spent years in the United States studying, performing and teaching for extended periods in Los Angeles, Chicago, Cincinnati and Muncie, Ind. By his count, he has been in 42 states.

When he was in his late 20s, he worked as a clinical psychologist. But voice lessons begun mostly out of curiosity soon turned serious. He found himself traveling to Tokyo for special training. And to subsidize those sessions, he landed a gig singing for pay on television.

During one of his TV appearances, he impressed the director of a professional American choral group also on the show. And Masuko found himself invited to come to the United States.

Masuko’s resume is a staggering testament to the fact that he is a citizen of the world. Teaching in Germany and Russia, performing in Spain, Belgium, Italy and South Korea … the list goes on and on.

Singing is not altogether different from providing therapy, he said. “It can give the listener energy and insights that help you look inside your own heart and find the courage to face the reality of tomorrow.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CONCERT Baritone Tsutomu Masuko and Pianist Kendall Feeney will perform with the Spokane String Quartet tonight at 8 at First Presbyterian Church, 318 S. Cedar, and Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the EWU Music Recital Hall.