Opera Singer (Soprano/Tenor) Model Director of Mondo Parallelo Opera Company

Maria Seiren is a dual vocalist with a remarkable talent for singing soprano and tenor.

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・Launched the Maria Seiren project in 2013, and started full-scale training in vocal music, pronunciation, and acting for a new opera performance. Surprise appearance at Mr. Junko Koshino's fashion show.

・On December 23, 2015, he officially debuted as a vocalist with the Tokyo Vivaldi Ensemble at Suntory Hall (Blue Rose). Tickets are sold out.

・On October 20, 2016, a concert commemorating the 3 million views on YouTube was held at the Nihonbashi Theater, and tickets were sold out.

・February 3rd to 5th, 2017 At Yakult Hall, the world premiere performance of the new Opera "Sorrowful Sirena ~Forbidden Love~" inspired by the style of Noh will be performed for 3 days in 4 consecutive days. achieve.

・October 30, 2017 “Sorrowful Sirena ~Forbidden Love~” will be performed again at Shinjuku Bunka Center Large Hall.

・On June 23, 2018, a concert commemorating the 10 millionth YouTube view was held at Toppan Hall, and tickets were sold out.

・In June 2018, he established the Mondo Parallelo opera company and assumed the position of director.

・On December 16, 2018, the Mondo Parallelo opera company launch concert was held.

・November 2, 2019 Appeared in the world premiere performance of the operetta opera "Lake of God" (Iino Hall) in two roles.

・On November 3, 2020, the Noh theater collaboration “Onka no Inori” (participation performance of the Agency for Cultural Affairs Art Festival 2020) will be a success at the Umewaka Noh Academy Hall.

・On October 31, 2021, the 2nd Noh theater collaboration performance “Hanahomura” will be a success at the Umewaka Noh Academy Kaikan.

・On June 26, 2022, the 3rd Noh theater collaboration performance “Goyoku Hana” will be a success at the Umewaka Noh Academy Kaikan.

・September 4, 2022 Successful two performances of Maria Selen's 5th anniversary Happy 5th Anniversary Concert "The New Me" at Iino Hall, two years late.

・On November 3, 2022, the 4th Noh theater collaboration performance “Sakura Koyo” will be a success at the Umewaka Noh Academy Kaikan.

​・February 25, 2023 Japan's Got Talent (JGT) Winner

・On June 4, 2023, the 5th Noh theater collaboration performance “Barakamuri” was held successfully at the Umewaka Noh Academy Hall.be.

His dynamic and exceptional talent in singing the soprano and tenor voices has attracted attention from all quarters, and as a mysterious song spirit that transcends gender, he has appeared in new operas, solo concerts, TV, radio, commercials, corporate events, etc. Appearance.

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Be Yourself — Maria Seiren

1. My Private History

When I entered elementary school, I hated the black school bags for boys and liked the red school bags that girls used. In the third grade, I was singing in boy soprano and my homeroom teacher called it “creepy,” and it made me hate singing.

I fell in love for the first time with a boy who played soccer, and my mannerisms became more feminine. From then on, the bullying got worse toward anything feminine about me, and the stress caused my eyesight to deteriorate and my childhood asthma to flare up. The bullying continued into junior high school, but I remained as numb to it as possible and avoided interacting with them. But then a music teacher told me, “You have a lovely voice,” and I joined the choir. 

I didn’t like that my voice was deepening, so I practiced hard to be able to produce a higher voice. This was the birth of the dual voice that I have today. My biological father, who never accepted transgender people, praised me for the first time when he heard me sing in the high school choir at the civic hall. 

The song I sang happened to be “Nina,” an Italian song that my father liked. My father died of illness 18 years ago. The teacher of the choir club was a graduate of the voice department of a music college and taught me the basics of vocal music in private lessons. This was when I first decided I wanted to become an opera singer. However, I had to give up on music school due to financial difficulties, and after graduating from high school, I worked part-time as a singer. 

I went out to rural banquet parties with only the train fare to get there and back, and was paid only a small tip based on the audience’s reaction. No matter how much the drunken guests insulted me, I just went about my work without feeling hardship or enjoyment, as a different version of myself. So the only thing I looked forward to was going there early to bathe in the hot springs.

As a transgender person, I am not someone to be feared. Japan is incredibly lagging behind in gender education. While I was leading an unstable life in a Japanese entertainment industry that’s behind the times, I met the world-renowned fashion designer Junko Koshino, who is now my strongest supporter. 

Whenever I sing, she always tells people to “listen to Maria Seiren’s songs without any preconceived notions and with a pure and open heart.” I can’t express how much those words rescued me. Around the same time, I met someone who later founded an opera company and made me an opera singer.

He is Uemura Fumiaki, who is now my adoptive father, and who gave everything he had to help me accomplish my dream of fighting against prejudice and sexism that still persist in Japan, teaching me that there is not just one form of love. I am very fortunate to have gained wonderful supporters and fans through my original opera performances and collaborations between Noh and opera.

After winning Japan’s Got Talent (JGT), I became very focused on myself competing in America’s Got Talent (AGT), which was my greatest dream since the beginning. As the first JGT champion, I think it would be very meaningful if this song of mine can help eliminate prejudice and discrimination.

Today I’m accompanied by my adoptive father, who is also the general director of the opera company. My mother, who lives with me and is undergoing dialysis, is in front of the TV looking forward to seeing my performance as well. I am standing now on this AGT stage to make my big leap to the world.

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2. The Origin of My Name, Maria Seiren

Maria is from The Virgin Mary whose grand statues have a look that inspired me, and “Seirēn” is from the songstresses of the sea called “sirens” in the Greek mythology of “The Odyssey” (which in the early era were half-bird, half-human creatures who lured sailors at sea, and later became mermaids).

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3. People Dear to Me

■ Uemura Fumiaki: my adoptive father who shares my struggles with me toward my big dreams. Drawing from his career as a former advertising agency director, he has taught me everything I need to know about life, from philosophy as a professional expressionist and management of a theater company to health and mental wellness.

 

■ Junko Koshino: a fashion designer, recognized as a Person of Cultural Merit in Japan. She has always been a leader among my supporters and shows concern for me. She was also very happy to see me win on Got Talent. She taught me about the beauty of costumes and the power of being able to turn anything into entertainment.

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■ Takei Hiroyui: a composer who has created my music. He has composed new songs and cover songs for me, and is indispensable in enabling my expression.

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■ Awaya Akio: a Noh performer of the Kita school of Noh theater. He is recognized as a holder of an Important Intangible Cultural Asset. He has helped me to create a new stage format called “Nohgakudo Collaboration” by taking on the new world while being in the world of traditional performing arts himself. He has given me advice on acting and performance from the viewpoint of traditional performing arts.

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■ Ueda Mieko: in charge of my hair and makeup, made my headdress which has come to symbolize me, and has been instrumental in creating my character.

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■ Nami Yamazaki: supporting me as a manager. She takes care of accounting and all the other behind-the-scenes work to manage the opera company and me.

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■ Idane Miwako: a corépétiteur who has taught me everything about music. She teaches me how to express myself, how to express what I want to do, and the process of singing.

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■ Shida Takehiro: a voice trainer. He is in charge of vocal instruction and keeps the quality of my singing consistent at the same time. I sometimes don’t know the state of my voice by myself, so he supports me as a “voice doctor.”

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■ Ogasawara Tadashi: a Kyogen performer of the Izumi school of Noh theater. He is recognized as a holder of an Important Intangible Cultural Asset. He has taught me not only Kyogen, but also how a stage performer should be, teaching beyond the framework of traditional performing arts, and I have learned the beauty of the inherent pauses and words of Japanese, and the world of its elegance.

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