Mesmerizing Mezzo Soprano | Ayaka Tanimoto | TEDxKyoto

Opera Singer Ayaka Tanimoto holds the audience spellbound with her moving perfomance of two arias - “Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix” from Camille Saint-Saëns’s opera Samson and Delilah, and “Nessun Dorma” from Giacomo Puccini’s opera Turandot. Ayaka was born into a family of traditional Japanese potters and grew up in Iga, the town of Ninjas. Her musical journey started with her father singing Beatles to her while playing guitar. She was deeply influenced by hip-hop and R&B music as a teenager and her first performance as a singer was at a live house in Kyoto with a soul and funk band. Multi-cultured, having spent every summer in the United Kingdom and Spain, she was educated at Kyoto International School and Osaka International School before relocating to London. She trained at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland before starting her career as an opera singer performing across Europe and Japan. From her deep interest in the balance of body and mind, she also works as a certified personal trainer while singing opera. She is now in the process of launching an Opera Project and fitness classes tailored for performers and singers in Japan. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at