Meet Mihoko Kinoshita, Santa Barbara’s ‘Butterfly’

Opera Santa Barbara's Artistic Director Jose Maria Condemi chats with soprano Mihoko Kinoshita, who takes on the title role of 'Madame Butterfly' this November.

JMC: As a Japanese-born singer, how do you approach performing one of the Italian repertoire’s key roles, based on a character so close to your own culture? MK: I think my interpretation of the character is changing; she's not solely a Japanese character now. My first Cio-Cio-San was at the Santa Margherita Opera Festival in Italy; I created the character to be gentle and quiet – more traditionally Japanese. Then I lived in Italy for more than five years. After a few productions, I really started thinking about the text, which is so important to Italian opera - especially in Puccini's work! I'm always thinking about the words; this is Italian music with Italian words. I’ve come to consider ‘Butterfly’ an Italian opera first, and a Japanese story second.