Tokyo-born bass baritone Yasushi Hirano studied in his hometown and Vienna. Since 2008 he has been a member of the ensemble at the Volksoper Wien, where he sang roles such as Sparafucile (Rigoletto), Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) and Water Goblin (Rusalka). He has also performed at the Salzburger Festspiele in Hans Werner Henze’s Gogo no Eiko, and at the New National Theatre, Tokyo as Geisterbote (Die Frau ohne Schatten) and Leporello (Don Giovanni). The Bregenzer Festspiele also invited him to sing the roles of Mandarin (Turandot) and Zuniga (Carmen).