Opera Singer (Soprano / Tenor) · Model

Leader of Mondo Parallelo Opera Company

 

Maria Seiren is a vocalist with the exceptional ability to sing both soprano and tenor parts.

 

2013 — Launched the Maria Seiren project and began intensive training in singing, diction and acting for a new opera production. Made surprise appearances at fashion shows by Junko Koshino and other events.

 

23 December 2015 — Made her formal debut as a classical singer with the Tokyo Vivaldi Ensemble at Suntory Hall's Blue Rose. The concert sold out.

 

20 October 2016 — Held a sold-out concert at Nihonbashi Theatre to celebrate three million views on YouTube.

 

3–5 February 2017 — Played two roles in the world premiere of the new opera Kanashimi no Sirena — Kindan no Koi (哀しみのシレーナ～禁断の恋～), inspired by Noh, giving four performances over three days at Yakult Hall.

 

30 October 2017 — Returned in the same opera at Shinjuku Bunka Center's Main Hall.

 

23 June 2018 — Held a sold-out concert at Toppan Hall to celebrate ten million views on YouTube.

 

June 2018 — Founded Mondo Parallelo Opera Company and became its leader.

 

16 December 2018 — Held the company's inaugural concert.

 

2 November 2019 — Played two roles in the world premiere of Kami no Mizuumi (神の湖) at Iino Hall.

 

2020–present — Has starred in the Noh Theatre Collaboration series at Umewaka Noh Academy Hall. Productions include 音華の祈り (2020), 花焔 (2021), 五欲花 (summer 2022), 桜紅葉 (autumn 2022), 薔薇冠 (summer 2023), 紫のゆかり (autumn 2023), 金花夜叉 (autumn 2024), the suspense musical drama 傾城青時雨捕物絵巻 (summer 2025), and 夢桔梗 (autumn 2025).

 

4 September 2022 — Starred in two performances of Happy 5th Anniversary Concert “The New Me” at Iino Hall, celebrating her fifth anniversary two years later than planned.

 

25 February 2023 — Won Japan's Got Talent (JGT).

 

1 January 2024 (U.S. date) — Appeared on America's Got Talent: Fantasy League after being selected by viewer vote. The programme was broadcast across the United States on NBC.

 

19 May 2024 — Starred in the Operatic Entertainment Show “Kaen” (花焔) at Iino Hall.

 

Her dynamic ability to sing both soprano and tenor has attracted wide attention. Transcending gender through her singing, she performs in new operas and solo concerts and appears on television, radio, in commercials and at corporate events.

 

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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