Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as a descendant of Japanese and Syrian-Lebanese Families, Ricardo Tamura is one of the most accomplished Brazilian tenors of all times.  His debut as Cavaradossi ("Tosca") at the Metropolitan Opera in December 2013, brought him not only standing ovations and critical acclaim: He also became the very first Brazilian Tenor in History to sing a leading role at the MET.  Critical reviews and audience members praise the "sheer beauty of his voice", the "solid vocal technique" and the "easy and secure top notes". Distinguished also by his enormous versatility and vocal endurance, he easily navigates through all kinds of repertoire from the lyric- to the dramatic- and heldentenor roles, and he has performed more than 50 leading roles, in more than 900 performances of his already over twenty years-long professional singing career. His most performed parts include, for example, Otello, in Verdi's "Otello", Calaf, in Puccini's "Turandot", Bacchus, in Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos", Cavaradossi, in Puccini's Tosca", Canio, in Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci", Des Grieux, in Puccini's "Manon Lescaut", but also Alfredo, in Verdi's "La Traviata", Duca di Mantua, in Verdi's "Rigoletto", Don José, in Bizet's "Carmen" and Sou-Chong, in Lehár's Operette, "Das Land des Lächelns". Among Wagnerian roles, he has performed "Tannhäuser", "Rienzi", "Froh" and "Erik" with great critical acclaim.  Also a sought-after concert singer, his repertoire ranges from Ariel Ramirez' "Misa Criolla" to Dvorak's "Requiem", and from Bacalov's "Misa Tango" to Verdi's "Requiem" oder Janacek's "Glagolitic Mass".  Originally, though, he had intended to become a scientist. A highly skilled young student, he had already graduated - at age 20 - in Geology and Physics at the University of Sao Paulo.  Shortly after, as he was almost finishing still another college degree (Geophysics), doing his Master's degree in Geology and being selected for a Massachusetts Institute of Technology special program, he was told by the famous MET soprano Licia Albanese that he had a good voice, and could have a promising future as an Opera singer! With that in mind, he ended up deciding to apply for the Juilliard School of Music in New York, where he received a scholarship.  In the following four years, he completed his training working with Licia Albanese herself, and with the famous Italian tenor Carlo Bergonzi. After a year spent at the International Opera Studio from the Zurich Opera House, he had his professional debut in Kassel, Germany, as Armando Cellini, in Fred Raymond's Operetta "Maske in Blau".  Ever since then, has lived in Germany, and has sung over 900 performances in Opera houses all over Europe, Asia and the Americas. His largest live audiences were of around 18,000 people, at the Arena di Verona (2009), and around 60,000 people, in an open-air concert in Nuremberg, Germany (2008).  Among his many colleagues and co-workers there are names like soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, baritones Dmitry Hvorostovsky and George Gagnidze, bass Ferruccio Furlanetto and conductors James Levine, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Fabio Luisi, Marco Armiliato, Placido Domingo, to name just a few.  Mr. Tamura also enthusiastically engages in different kinds of benefit work: Along different single projects, including, for example, a concert for the victims of the 2011 Tsunami in Japan, he has been working with UNICEF Germany for over a decade.  After repeated engagements as a vocal instructor (e.g. at the Berlin Opera Academy), he has been gaining increasing reputation as a voice teacher.  He fluently speaks five languages (Portuguese, German, Italian, English, Spanish) and is currently based in Nuremberg, Germany.