The celebrated American violinist MIDORI is one of the most remarkable musicians of our time, a visionary artist, an active public figure, and a dedicated educator. Critics admire her impeccable technique and insightful interpretations.
Born in Osaka in 1971, she began studying violin with her mother Setsu Goto at an early age. In 1982, conductor Zubin Mehta invited the then 11-year-old Midori to perform with the New York Philharmonic in the orchestra’s annual New Year’s concert. That laid the foundation for her brilliant career. Midori is the Dorothy Richard Starling Chair in Violin Studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and is a Distinguished Visiting Artist at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.
Midori has performed with the London, Chicago, and San Francisco symphony orchestras; the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics; the Mahler Chamber Orchestra; and the Lucerne String Festival Orchestra. She has collaborated with outstanding musicians such as Claudio Abbado, Emanuel Ax, Leonard Bernstein, Jonathan Biss, Constantinos Carydis, Christoph Eschenbach, Daniel Harding, Paavo Järvi, Mariss Jansons, Yo Yo Ma, Susanna Mälkki, Joana Mallwitz, Antonello Manacorda, Zubin Mehta, Tarmo Peltokoski, Donald Runnicles, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Omer Meir Wellber.
The 2022/2023 season is an anniversary season for Midori – she celebrates the 40th anniversary of her professional debut with numerous appearances. Together with French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, she makes a new recording of Beethoven’s complete sonatas for piano and violin, hailed as a landmark recording by two artists at the height of their careers (Warner Classics). The CD release is accompanied by performances of all ten sonatas in three concerts at Dartmouth College and a concert in Chicago. Another highlight of the anniversary season is a project that combines two lifelong passions – the music of Bach and newly commissioned music – in a solo recital tour featuring Bach’s six sonatas and partitas for solo violin alongside works by contemporary composers; the tour includes a return to Carnegie Hall in February and concerts in Washington, DC, Seattle and Vancouver, and in San Francisco, Irvine and La Jolla. Midori also appears this season with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. Midori’s European engagements this season include opening the Volksoper Wien 2022/23 season as the Orchestras’ first Artist-in-Residence and appearances with the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Paris Mozart Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, and a tour of Spain with the Orquestra Simfònica Camera Musicae. She will perform in chamber music concerts in Köln, Hamburg and London; and solo Bach programs at major German festivals in Dresden, Bonn and Ludwigsburg. In addition to other concerts, she appears in Residency at Suntory Hall in Tokyo.
Midori’s discography is diverse and extensive. Her recording of Paul Hindemith’s Violin Concerto with conductor Christoph Eschenbach and the NDR Symphony Orchestra won a Grammy in 2014. In 2020, with the Festival Strings Lucerne of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and two Romances on Warner Classics; recordings on Sony Classical, Ondine and Onyx include the music of Bloch, Janáček and Shostakovich as well as Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin filmed at Köthen Castle.
Midori is deeply committed to furthering humanitarian and educational goals; she founded several non-profit organizations, music programs for the youth and communities of New York City, and Music Sharing (the Japan-based foundation) brings both classical Western and Japanese musical traditions to children and adults in Japan and Asia, by presenting concert programs in schools, institutions and hospitals. She is a UN Messenger of Peace.
Midori plays the 1734 Guarnerius del Gesù ‘ex-Huberman’ provided to her by the Hayashibara Foundation. She uses four bows – two by Dominique Peccatte, one by François Peccatte and one by Paul Siefried.