Ryosuke Hatanaka

Japanese baritone, choral conductor, composer, music critic, poet, teacher and writer Ryosuke Hatanaka was born in Moji City, Fukuoka Prefecture on 12 February 1922 and graduated from Tokyo Geidai in 1943.

He sang in the first Japanese performances of Mozart's operas The Magic Flute (as Papageno) and The Marriage of Figaro (in the title role) and was the first artistic director of Tokyo Nikikai Opera Foundation (from 1993-99).

He died in Mitaka City, Tokyo, on 24 May 2012, aged ninety.