Sizzle Ohtaka

Sizzle Ohtaka passed away on 5th September 2022 after fighting with cancer.  Her music , passion, dedication and love to people will never be forgotten. 

Sizzle Ohtaka is one of the most eclectic and versatile vocal artists whose work freely crosses any boundaries between various musical forms.  Her many songs are used for films, interdisciplinary arts collaborations, recitals and dance and her busy schedule encompasses performances at both large and small concert venues in Japan and elsewhere. Sizzle is the music director for the award-winning long-running TV programme for children “NHK Nihongo de Asobo”. She is passionate about the wellbeing of older people and disabled children which she regards as her life’s work.

Outside Japan, Sizzle sang the Japanese old folk song, Komoro Magouta, at the closing ceremony of the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer. She performs at major festivals and venues abroad including the ICA, London, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Northern Lights Festival in Tromsø, and the Kazakhstan Jazz Festival. Sizzle was the first foreign performer at the Song Festival in Estonia.

Photo: Toshiya Suzuki

She has released 22 original albums, one of which, Furusato, recorded with the Ellerhein Girls’ Choir, won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance.

In the wider field of the performing arts Sizzle has collaborated with Station House Opera and Kazuo Ono (a noted Butoh dancer). Other noteworthy performances have been in Monkey Business Class – a theatrical production with Dumb Type and Hotel Pro Forma and with Yoshiko Chuma in “Game/Play” which was presented at the Asia Society, New York.

Most recently, Sizzle has presented Light & Shadow, a project in collaboration with the prominent LED lighting artist Takayuki Fujimoto.

Sizzle Ohtaka official website

ÜSKÜDAR’A GÍDERÍKEN

“Under the Camphor Tree”, Tokushima LED Art Festival (Tokushima)

Sizzle Ohtaka & The Asian Wings USIO