Sakura Toba was born into a family of professional musicians in Vienna, Austria, in 2005.
In 2018, she won a gold medal at the 18th Izuminomori Junior Cello Competition in Japan, and a bronze medal at the 19th International “Nutcracker” Televised Contest for Young Musicians, held in Moscow, Russia.
Sakura gave her first solo recital in March 2019. In October of that year, she performed at Suntory Hall with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Ryusuke Numajiri, as soloist in Tchaikovsky's "Variations on a Rococo Theme” . Since then she has performed with Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Gunma Symphony Orchestra, City of Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, Yokohama Sinfonietta, Mt. Fuji Philharmonic Orchestra, and Vienna Chamber Orchestra working with conductors Koichiro Harada, Naoto Otomo, Junichi Hirokami, Joji Hattori, Takeshi Ooi, Kazuki Yamada, Kosuke Tsunoda, Nodoka Okisawa, Taichi Deguchi, Gen Ohta and Stephanie Childress. She has also appeared at Tokyo Spring Festival and many other recital, and in 2020 was heard on NHK-FM’s Classical Program "Recital Passio.”
In November 2019 she was awarded “The 2nd Shinji Hattori Music Award,” which is given to internationally promising young musicians.
Sakura plays on a cello made by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume á Paris Rue Croix des Petits Champs 1840, which is on loan from the Anne-Sophie Mutter foundation. Sakura has toured with the "Mutter's Virtuosi" in June and September 2023 in Europe.
In October 2025 she will make her debut as a soloist with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo with Antonín Dvořák's Cello Concerto.
Sakura began studying the cello at the age of six with Hakuro Mori. She has also attended master classes by Antonio Meneses and David Geringas at the Chigiana Summer Music Academy. She is a recipient of the 50th Ezoe Memorial Recruit Foundation scholarship (since 2021) and the 2021＆2022 ROHM Music Foundation scholarship.
She is currently studying at Berlin University of Arts with Prof. Jens-Peter Maintz from October 2022.
June 2025
Photo: Julia Wesely