Iwao Asakura
Assistant Professor of Music
Vocal Area  D.M.A. University of Southern Mississippi (MS)
M.M. Florida State University (FL)
B.M. University of Southern Mississippi (MS)
Dr. Asakura is originally from Nagoya, Japan, and currently serving as Assistant Professor of Voice at Mississippi State University in Starkville, MS. Dr. Asakura received the Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance & Pedagogy and the Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance with a minor in Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg, MS). He holds the Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL). Before coming to Mississippi State University, Dr. Asakura served on the music faculties at Ouachita Baptist University (Arkadelphia, AR), Pearl River Community College (Poplaville, MS), and The Community Arts School at the University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg, MS). He also held teaching assistantships while at Florida State and Southern Mississippi. Since 2002 he has been an active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). His students have been semi-finalists and finalists of NATS vocal competitions at both the state and regional level. Dr. Asakura has appeared in numerous opera productions, including Figaro and Dr. Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Father in Hansel and Gretel , Count Almaviva and Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, Mr. Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Baritone in Kurt Weil's The Seven Deadly Sins. His solo concert experience includes Handel's Messiah, Haydn's The Seven Last Words of Christ, Mozart's Requiem (K. 626) and Vesperae solennes de confessore (K. 339), Durufle's Requiem, and Serenade to Music by Ralph Vaughan Williams. In 2000 he was a regional finalist at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition. In 2000 and 1993 he won the first place at Mississippi NATS audition. He was also a semi-finalist of Young Patroness of the Opera Audition in Miami, Florida in 1997. |
