Emiko Iinuma's voice has a distinctive sugared drawl, a sweet residue from her early years as a student at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. It is more than the drawl that attracts — her voice dances, leaps across decades, travels up and down pitch, whispers hardship and rises in forthright determination.
Iinuma's voice has supported her, fueled her, won her accolades and led to numerous accomplishments. After being beguiled by its varied tones, it is easy to understand why.
The founder of the Harmonia Opera Company, a New York-based Japanese opera, was born as the eldest of seven children of Yoshiro Iinuma, who served in the 1930s as chamberlain to one of the princes in the Yamashina-no-miya, a branch of the Imperial family.