Born in Kobe, Japan, Yoshika Masuda first started to play the cello at the age of five. Following studies with Georg Pedersen in Australia,  he went on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester on a full scholarship with Hannah Roberts and later with Ralph  Kirshbaum. He has also benefited greatly from taking part in masterclasses given by Anner Bylsma, Thomas Demenga, Karine Georgian,  Bernard Greenhouse, Gary Hoffman, Steven Isserlis, Philippe Muller and Uzi Wiesel amongst others.

Yoshika has won numerous 1st and 2nd prizes at the Sydney Cello Award, National Youth Concerto Competition (Australia), J&A Beare  International Solo Bach Competition, Sevenoaks Young Musician of the Year, and was also awarded the prestigious Yamaha Music  Foundation of Europe String Award.  He has performed concertos and recitals throughout Australia, Austria, France, Italy, Japan and the UK  and his performances have also been broadcast on ABC Classic FM (Australia), BBC Radio 3 (UK), Klassik Radio Deutschland  (Germany), RAI Radio 3 (Italy) and Concertzender Radio (The Netherlands). Yoshika enjoys performing music ranging from Bach to  Lutoslawski, but is a keen advocate of contemporary music, recently performing Michele Dall’Ongaro’s “Linea Nigra” with the World  Youth Chamber Orchestra conducted by D.Giuranna.

Yoshika is also an avid chamber musician and has collaborated with artists such as Natalie Clein, Guy Ben-Ziony, Nicholas Daniel,  Charmian Gadd, Bruno Giuranna, Priya Mitchell and Paul Roczek. As the cellist of the Isolani Quartet he studied with members of the Alban Berg, Belcea and Skampa Quartets and has appeared at the Leicester International Music Festival. In 2008 he performed the entire  Quatuor pour la fin du temps at the Manchester Messian Protrait Festival to commemorate the centenary of the composer’s birth.

In 2009 Yoshika gained his B.Mus with first class honours from the RNCM, receiving both the Sir John Munduell Principal’s Prize and the  Leonard Rose Award for outstanding achievement. He also recently completed his M.Mus at the RNCM with distinction. Yoshika is  currently continuing his studies with Ralph Kirshbaum at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music.