ANNA SATO

ANNA SATO

Anna Sato began learning shima-uta(traditional folk songs of Amami Island) from her grandfather, Sumio Megumi, from age three and won multiple awards while growing up. Her professional debut came after performing at the opening of EXPO2005. This opening event was produced by Kansai Yamamoto, internationally acclaimed fashion designer. In 2013 and 2015, she performed in the musical Les Miserables in the role of Fantine. In 2016, she performed at a choir festival held in Corsica, France. Then she caught the eye of renowned Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and performed shima-uta in his dance production titled ICON. She also performed her first solo concert in New York in the same year. An alternative musical duo, Anna Sato and Toshiyuki Sasaki, combined shima-uta with western drumming and hints of jazz, R&B and hip-hop. In 2017, their unique sound attracted an overseas audience and their Paris performance brought them international acclaim. In the production of Cuentos De Azucar (Sugar Tales), Anna collaborated with Flamenco's leading dancer and director Eva Yerbabuena In 2018, she sang the theme of NHK's yearlong period drama, Segodon and also appeared in the drama in the role of a family member of the protagonist. In 2020, she began singing in the nature of Amami island under self-quarantine in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. She has been performing livestream shows to share the beautiful nature of Amami and some musical joy with the world during these trying times.