Violin
Since her debut at the age of eleven with the New York Philharmonic thirty-one years ago, the violinist Midori has established a record of achievement which sets her apart as a master musician, innovator and champion of children’s developmental potential. In 1992 she founded Midori & Friends, a non-profit organisation based in New York which brings music education programmes to thousands of underprivileged children each year. Two other organisations – Music Sharing based in Japan and Partners in Performance based in the USA – also bring music closer to the lives of people who may not otherwise have any involvement with the arts. Her commitment to community collaboration and outreach projects extends beyond these organisations to her work with young violinists in master-classes throughout the world and to her Orchestra Residencies Program in the USA. Midori performs up to one hundred concerts each year, dividing her time between recitals, chamber music and concerto performances worldwide. She has an extensive discography, and in recent years has devoted a great deal of energy and resources to commissioning and performing new music. In the 2013-2014 season she will feature on two new recordings – the first will be a collaboration with the NDR Symphony and conductor Christoph Eschenbach on a rare recording of the Hindemith violin concerto and the second will be a recital programme with pianist Özgür Aydin featuring works by Shostakovich, Janáček and Bloch. Other highlights of the season are to include her first performances in Iceland, India and Africa, the UK premiere at the BBC Proms of Péter Eötvös’ new violin concerto DoReMi with the Philharmonia Orchestra under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen and multiple engagements with major orchestras throughout Europe, the USA and Asia. Midori will undertake four recital tours with Özgür Aydin, appear in community engagement programmes in four different countries and five different communities in the USA and continue her leadership role at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music as Chair of the Strings Department.
