Japanese bass Yasushi Hirano studied at the University of Music in Vienna and completed his training with Rotraud Hansmann and KS Robert Holl. He received his first engagements at the Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg as Emireno in Handel's Ottone and at the Salzburg Festival in the world premiere of Hans Werner Henze's Gogo no Eiko | Das verratene Meer under the direction of Gerd Albrecht.

During his first permanent engagement at the Graz Opera, where he appeared in various roles including Eremit in Der Freischütz and Samuel in Un ballo in maschera, Yasushi Hirano appeared as La Voce in Mozart's Idomeneo under Nikolaus Harnoncourt, sang the role of Micha in Smetana's The Bartered Bride at the Styriarte Festival in Graz and made his debut at the New National Theatre in his home city of Tokyo with the role of the Ghost Messenger in Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten, where he subsequently returned as Leporello in Don Giovanni and as the King in Aida.

Between 2008 and 2022, Yasushi Hirano was a permanent ensemble member of the Volksoper Vienna, where he sang the title role in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Alidoro in La Cenerentola, General Lefort in Zar und Zimmermann, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Zuniga in Carmen, Colline in La Bohème, Zio Bonzo in Madama Butterfly and Talpa in Il Tabarro, among others. Further roles at the Haus am Gürtel include Don Fernando in Beethoven's Fidelio, Ferrando in Verdi's Il Trovatore, Timur in Puccini's Turandot, Pimen in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, the role of Truck in a new production of Jacques Offenbach's King Carrot and Bertram in Tchaikovsky's Jolanthe.

The Japanese bass made his debut at the Bregenz Festival as the Mandarin in Puccini's Turandot, where he was subsequently also heard as Zuniga in Georges Bizet's Carmen. At the summer festival Oper Burg Gars, Yasushi Hirano was heard as the Hermit in Weber's Freischütz and as Don Fernando in Beethoven's Fidelio, at the Tyrol Festival in Erl as Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni and as the King in Verdi's Aida. As the Ghost Messenger in Richard Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten, he appeared in two concert performances at the Berlin Philharmonie and at the George Enescu Festival Bucharest, both times with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Jurowski.

In addition to his operatic career, Yasushi Hirano is also very active as a concert singer and has appeared in Bach's St John Passion, Beethoven’ s Missa Solemnis, Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, Beethoven's Mass in C major and Haydn's Harmoniemesse, among others. He has also toured Japan as a soloist with the Strauss Festival Orchestra Vienna, performed in Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem with the Japan Century Symphony Orchestra in Osaka and sang in Giuseppe Verdi's Messa da Requiem at the Vienna Musikverein, accompanied by the Tonkünstlerorchester Niederösterreich under Yutaka Sado. With the same solo part, Yasushi Hirano also made his debut with the Würth Philharmonic under the direction of Claudio Vandelli.

As a Lied interpreter, usually accompanied by his wife Sayuri Hirano, he mainly performs works by Schubert, Schumann and Mahler.

In the current 2024/2025 season, in addition to a revival of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Vienna Volksoper, Yasushi Hirano will also be making an increasing number of guest appearances in his home country of Japan, where he is a much sought-after soloist with the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra under Yutaka Sado in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and, together with the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra under Tetsuro Ban, in his Missa Solemnis. Yasushi Hirano will also be appearing with the Bach Collegium Japan under Masaki Suzuki as Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni and will sing Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte for the first time in Tokyo's Kioi Hall under Trevor Pinnock.

2023 | 2024

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