Midori’s performs violin concerti by Bartók and Prokofiev at the Aspen (Colorado) and Tanglewood (Massachusetts) festivals respectively and the Dvořák concerto at the Hollywood Bowl (Los Angeles).
At the Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland, her recital with pianist Özgür Aydin features works by Mozart, Fauré and Richard Strauss.
In her first season as Artistic Director of the Ravinia Steans Music Institute‘s Program for Piano & Strings, Midori oversaw the distinguished program that focuses on interpretation and small group collaboration through practice and performance of classical sonata and chamber repertoire. The Steans Music Institute is located in Highland Park, Illinois.
Over two dozen violinists, violists, cellists and pianists gathered for five weeks of intensive rehearsals and coaching under the guidance of Midori and a rotating roster of some of the world’s finest artists and pedagogues.
On July 6, Midori joined violinist Mihaela Martin, violist Kim Kashkashian, cellists Frans Helmerson and Clive Greensmith and pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin in a program combining Beethoven’s String Trio No 4 in D Major and Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat Major with Timo Andres’s Piano Trio (commissioned by the Ravinia Steans Music Institute in 2018) and Carlos Simon’s where two or three are gathered.
Midori’s most recent Orchestra Residencies Programs took place in Amarillo, Texas in March and in Toledo Ohio in May of this year.
In Amarillo, Midori and her ORP assistant, Clara Kim, worked with members of four orchestras at different levels of age and experience. They gave workshops including advising students on how to practice, to prepare for auditions and to approach college applications. They gave masterclasses, took part in orchestra rehearsals, visited local schools and spoke with educators.
In Toledo, which had three levels of ensembles, Midori gave Arts Advocacy lectures at a number of local schools and led discussions with students and parents. She also led a seminar for music teachers and arts supporters. There were masterclasses and workshops that included coaching of chamber ensembles. A seminar with area educators and arts supporters examined how best to encourage and inspire youth.
Both ORPs culminated in concerts in which, among other works, Midori performed Derek Bermel’s Spring Cadenzas, a newly commissioned piece for ORP. Prior to the residencies, the participating students had been able to meet online with Mr Bermel to hear more about him and his compositional process and to share any music that they may have composed themselves.
In December 2023, Midori was joined by violinist Ellinor D’Melon, violist Hiroki Kasai and cellist Alejandro Gomez-Pareja for a week of activities at schools, hospitals, vocational centers and cultural centers in Laos through her International Community Engagement Program (ICEP).
In a follow-up to the Laos ICEP, the four musicians met up again in Japan in June 2024 for two weeks filled with visits to schools, hospitals and other institutions in Osaka, Wakayama, Aomori and Gunma, among other places – and for public concerts in Tokyo and Osaka.
A gala concert and dinner will be held on June 14th in Tokyo’s Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa to benefit Midori’s International Community Engagement Program (ICEP).
For more information, to contribute and to purchase tickets
Midori & Friends has launched a new podcast interview series, entitled Changing the Tempo.
The inaugural episode, Spirit of Service with Midori, features Board member Ron Claiborne in conversation with Midori about her introduction to music, her dedication to mastering the violin and her journey to becoming a globally recognized artist. It highlights her musical achievements, the impact of her philanthropic work in music education and her perspective on the transformative power of music.
Listen to Spirit of Service with Midori
On January 18, 2024, Midori received the Brandeis Creative Arts Award at the Slosberg Music Center of Brandeis University from President Ron Liebowitz. The award ceremony was followed by a recital with pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute.
The Brandeis Creative Arts Award recognizes excellence in the arts and the lives and works of distinguished, active American artists. It was established in 1956, eight years after the University’s founding, at a time when there was no comparable award in higher education.
Neal Hampton, director of the Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra and chair of the award’s planning committee said, “Midori was selected because of her visionary artistry exhibited over decades of performances in the world’s great concert halls and cultural centers. … Equally important is her impressive work through her non-profit organizations, including Midori and Friends, dedicated to enriching the lives of children by providing tuition-free music education programs in NYC, and Partner in Performance, which brings chamber music to small communities throughout the country. A United Nations Messenger of Peace, and a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2021, Midori’s dedication to building connections between music and the human experience makes her one of the most vital artists of our time.”
Photo credit: Dan Holmes
Midori in recital with Ieva Jakobaviciute following the award ceremony
Midori gave a master class at Brandeis University’s Rapaporte Treasure Hall in early December 2023
After a hiatus during the Covid pandemic, Midori’s International Community Engagement Program activities outside of Japan resumed in December 2023 with presentations and performances in Laos.
Midori was joined by violinist Ellinor D’Melon, violist Hiroki Kasai and cellist Alejandro Gomez-Pareja for a week of activities at schools, vocational centers, hospitals and cultural centers in Vientiane, Muang Xay and Luang Prabang.
The cultural exchange also saw members of the ICEP quartet engage in traditional dyeing and paper making, interviews with students, observance of an alms giving ceremony and a storytelling session.
A follow-up will take place in June 2024, when the quartet will reunite for performances and presentations at schools, hospitals and other facilities for a diverse population in Japan as well as public performances in which they will report on their community engagement activities in Laos.
One work with which Midori has long been associated is Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade (after Plato’s ‘Symposium’).
In 1986, at the age of 14, Midori performed the Serenade with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, the orchestra’s summer home, under the baton of the composer.
During the course of the performance, the E-string on her ¾-size violin snapped. The concertmaster handed Midori his full-size violin, which she played until a string on that broke as well. The associate concertmaster had passed his violin to the concertmaster, who then handed Midori that violin and she continued to play. She never missed a note. It was an astonishing feat of professionalism and display of calm in a fraught situation. The story hit the front page of The New York Times the following day with the headline “GIRL,14, CONQUERS TANGLEWOOD WITH THREE VIOLINS”.
Since then, Midori has played the Serenade numerous times. Most recently, in the Kölner Philharmonie, her performance with the WDR Sinfonieorchester under Constantinos Carydis was recorded and can be viewed here.
In October and November 2023, Midori performs with Festival String Lucerne under its leader Daniel Dodds in Italy and Switzerland before joining the ensemble for a tour of the United States taking them from New York to California.
In Cremona, they perform concertos by J.S. Bach and in Bologna, Rimini and Lucerne, the Violin Concerto by Robert Schumann and Antonín Dvořák’s Romance in F minor.
In the United States their repertoire includes Schumann’s Violin Concerto as well as the Romance in F Major Op 50 by Beethoven, which they recorded for Warner Classics along with Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and the composer’s Romance in G Major Op 40, released in 2020.
To follow the tour, please go to Midori’s Concerts page.
