Otoha Tabata

Biography

Japanese violist Otoha Tabata currently studies with Nathan Braude at the Royal College of Music London, where she has gained a full scholarship as a Richard & Susan Jarvis Award Holder. Recent competition successes include First Prize at the 2018 North International Competition, Promotion Prize at the 2018 Anton Rubinstein Viola Competition, and an Honorary Mention at the 2019 Oskar Nedbal Viola Competition. 
Performing internationally and across Europe, she has appeared as soloist at the Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw, and the Queen Elizabeth Hall. During her first year studying at the Royal College of Music she was selected as representative and performed for HRH The Prince of Wales in Clarence House. Otoha is a member of the renowned LGT Young Soloists, performing in numerous concert tours around the world and recording CD albums. Most recently she recorded Paganini La Campanella with the ensemble in Abbey Road Studios, released in April 2021. 
Her festival appearances include IMS Open Chamber Music (Prussia Cove) and Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival (USA). In July 2021 she will participate in the Verbier Festival Academy and Seiji Ozawa Academy in Switzerland. Having been inspired by the Benedetti Foundation’s educational projects, she was selected as an Ambassador by Nicola Benedetti to participate in the Benedetti Sessions London.
At the age of 10, she started her studies at the Yehudi Menuhin School, where she was fully supported by scholarship and the Music and Dance Scheme. Otoha previously studied with Andriy Viytovych and Boris Kuchrasky, and the violin with Akiko Ono.
A proud scholar of the Japanese Government’s Program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists and the Drake Calleja Trust, she also has had the privilege of becoming one of the “Talent Unlimited” artists in the UK. Otoha performs on a Charles Boullangier viola, kindly loaned by the Royal College of Music.