We are at the end of an incredibly challenging year. In 2020 there have been so many tragic losses – of lives, of the stuff of life. Through the pandemic’s ravages, so many careers, businesses and institutions have been threatened or badly damaged. I do not know of anyone who has not somehow been affected by all of this. Beyond this year’s immediate health crisis, we continued to face violent greed and brutality, injustices and inequalities, as well as all manner of natural disasters.
Under these conditions, can we have hope for our future, for this world our children will inherit? Can we truly make sense of what has happened and can we learn from it?
In the face of all of this, I find reason for some optimism. I never forget that throughout history, humans have demonstrated resilience as well as destructiveness. We find reserves of moral strength within ourselves. We retain the capacity for coming together, in powerful, regenerative ways.
I believe that it is such togetherness, and our love and respect for others, which will help us override the world’s current crises. In my own case, in recent months I did experience some positiveness, and that kept me from losing faith in this life and world. It was certainly frustrating to be mostly limited to online connections with the people in my life — but through that, real warmth did come through from time to time, and I have never been more encouraged.
I hope that we will start a period of recovery in 2021. Along the way, I hope that we will have learned from all we have been through, leading to increasing mutual understanding and care. I look forward to a world which offers the possibility of people making meaningful connections among each other.
Midori
For an animated Season’s Greeting from Midori, please click here
https://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/News_Mask.jpg475575Evelyn Vellemanhttps://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/midori.pngEvelyn Velleman2020-12-31 17:10:312021-01-06 22:01:55A Greeting from Midori
During the month of October, Midori was busy giving masterclasses and workshops throughout the United States via Zoom. The sessions were offered to young musicians, their parents and teachers. So far, she has worked with groups in Connecticut, New York, Colorado, Minnesota, Washington, Indiana and New Mexico, with sessions continuing in November.
In addition to masterclasses on specific works, the other subjects of her workshops are:
How to Practice
Aural Heritage
How to Encourage and Support your Child to Practice Well, Encouraging Young People to Keep Music in their Lives Beyond High School
Life as Professional Musician: what steps to take and what to be prepared for if you want to make a living making music
Healing Through Music
For parents, teachers and administrators, she also offers a presentation on Advocacy and Community Engagement
These online activities are being offered at no charge to youth orchestras in good standing with the League of American Orchestras.
https://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/MidoriORPOct2FINALD-cropped.png22054317Evelyn Vellemanhttps://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/midori.pngEvelyn Velleman2020-11-02 20:39:512021-01-19 15:41:04Midori offers online workshops during the Covid pandemic through her Orchestra Residencies Program (ORP)
Midori travelled to Glasgow in September to perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) and its music director Thomas Søndergård. Their performance is being streamed as part of the orchestra’s Covid-friendly digital season and will be available to watch until Sunday 14 March 2021.
Midori is Artist-in-Residence with the RSNO for the 2020-2021 season. She will also give the world-premiere with the orchestra of a new concerto composed for her by Detlev Glanert in January 2021.
https://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/RSNO-photo.jpg14282000Evelyn Vellemanhttps://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/midori.pngEvelyn Velleman2020-10-24 20:27:422020-10-24 21:04:00Midori’s Beethoven Concerto performance with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra is available for streaming until March 2021
Midori is featured on the cover of the October 2020 issue of the Strad magazine.
In the magazine’s lead article, she speaks with Toby Deller about her preparation for the premiere of a concerto written for her by the German composer Detlev Glanert titled An die unsterbliche Geliebte (To the Immortal Beloved), inspired by Beethoven’s famous 1812 love letter and intended as a commemoration of Beethoven’s 250th birthday.
Midori also discusses her early curiosity about new music, her recitals focusing on works by contemporary female composers, her own education and her approach to teaching.
She speaks about her new recording of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and the two Romances, which will be released in mid-October by Warner Classics.
In conclusion, Midori muses on the near future for artists and audiences and on the power of music to heal: “Music is something that can bring smiles back to people, it’s something that can help people grieve, it’s something that can help people be consoled, or to dream.”
https://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/News_TheStrad.jpg475575Evelyn Vellemanhttps://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/midori.pngEvelyn Velleman2020-10-02 21:08:382020-10-14 18:44:16Midori appears on the cover of the October 2020 Strad magazine
Midori performs these works with the Festival Strings Lucerne on a recording made in early March 2020, just prior to the global pandemic lockdown.
The recording sessions had originally been planned around a concert performance with the orchestra at the KKL, Lucerne’s Culture and Congress Centre, and subsequent concerts in the UK, Singapore, China and Korea, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancellation or postponement of the entire tour. The Swiss concert was cancelled at less than 48 hours’ notice as Midori and the orchestra were already in the midst of rehearsals.
Midori explains: As everyone’s health and safety were of paramount concern, we were naturally obliged to follow official guidance. Nonetheless, we were grateful to receive permission to move ahead with our recording. Just beyond, a new and dangerous world was lurking … In retrospect, the recording experience felt as if we were racing against the clock, to still be making live music, in direct company of each other, breathing in harmony.
Through all of that, Beethoven guided my colleagues and me, his work focusing and inspiring us, our concentrations heightened, enveloped together in our musical efforts … Beethoven has provided a fortunate focus for me in such fraught times. I am reminded that he was a man of strong beliefs and a morality to which he fully committed, as an activist who took firm stands on many major issues of his day. At the same time, he maintained the discipline that allowed him to create profoundly beautiful, often serene music despite his many personal disappointments and struggles.
Beethoven’s determination still provides a model for humankind, leading us to recognize the best in our world as we reach toward the many achievements of which we are all potentially capable. Finding my place, as a musician, interpreting several of Beethoven’s masterpieces, grounds and inspires me today, as we all face many challenges ahead.
https://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/News_BeethovenAlbum.jpg475575Evelyn Vellemanhttps://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/midori.pngEvelyn Velleman2020-09-21 12:37:192020-10-14 18:40:52Midori’s recording of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Two Romances to be released on October 16th by Warner Classics
United Nations to Highlight Importance of Global Ceasefire, Dialogue during International Peace Day Observance
Hundreds of students from across the globe will come together on 17 September in a virtual event to mark the 2020 International Day of Peace. The Day, commemorated annually on 21 September, was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1981 and is devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace through observing 24 hours of non-violence and ceasefire.
Organized under the theme “Shaping Peace Together”, activities this year will include the annual Peace Bell Ceremony and global student conference. The student conference will include remarks by Messengers of Peace including Midori, Princess Haya, Paulo Coelho, Jane Goodall and Yo-Yo Ma.
Students will be invited to participate in a question-and-answer session with the Messengers of Peace before engaging in a dialogue about their visions for a peaceful world. As the United Nations marks its seventy-fifth anniversary in 2020, this dialogue will be part of a global conversation on building the peaceful and prosperous future we want.
The event will link to a live feed of the Peace Bell Ceremony from the Peace Garden, which will begin at 11 a.m. EST
Secretary-General António Guterres and Volkan Bozkir (Turkey), President of the seventy-fifth session of the General Assembly, will ring the Peace Bell in the company of Ishikane Kimihiro, Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, and Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications.
There will be performances by top hip hop artists from New York, New Orleans and Poland and by the United Nations Singers, comprising United Nations staff members and others. The event will conclude with remarks by the Secretary‑General to student participants.
The Peace Bell Ceremony and student observance will also be broadcast live via United Nations webcast.
https://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/midori.png00Evelyn Vellemanhttps://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/midori.pngEvelyn Velleman2020-09-17 12:14:582020-09-17 12:25:33Midori takes part in observance of United Nations International Peace Day
Midori’s Orchestra Residencies Program (ORP) is pleased to offer a selection of online workshops to support youth orchestras during the 2020-2021 season in an effort to help keep young musicians engaged, motivated and excited during these unusual times.
These ORP offerings are available on a first-come, first-served basis and range from a masterclass to workshops on how to practice, presentations for parents and teachers and opportunities to speak with local legislatures.
The workshop activities are being offered at no charge to youth orchestras in good standing with the League of American Orchestras.
Each workshop is approximately one hour in length.
Category A: For Students
*This program could be supplemented with a short performance by Midori
• Violin and/or Chamber Music Masterclass * external mic recommended
• For String Players: How to Maintain Your Instrument
• Workshop: How to Practice
• Oral Heritage: Who to Listen to and What to Listen for
Category B: For Parents and Teachers
*May only be selected in addition to a workshop from Category A
• How to Support and Encourage Your Child to Practice Well
• Encouraging Young People to Keep Music in their Lives / Life Beyond High School
Category C: Advocacy and Leadership: In Conversation with Community Leaders or Music Directors
*May only be selected in addition to a workshop from Category A
• Advocacy Through and For Music
• Leadership in the Community
• Healing through Music: Discussing Midori’s role as a UN Messenger of Peace
Category D: Request Your Own Workshop
State how your proposed additional activity would support your youth orchestra. Please feel free to include additional pages or documents, if necessary.
Please access the 2020-2021 Orchestra Residencies Program requirements and submission form at the Eligibility and Applications tab of the ORP website
https://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/midori.png00Evelyn Vellemanhttps://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/midori.pngEvelyn Velleman2020-09-16 10:22:302020-09-16 10:25:11Midori’s Orchestra Residencies Program offers online workshops to support students, parents and teachers during the 2020-2021 season
I hope the uncertain situation we are living under has not impacted us in only negative ways. While I find the current circumstances to be challenging, I am doing my best to protect myself and others, to be as productive as possible, and to participate consciously in my community.
Much of our attention is inevitably drawn to the repercussions of COVID; yet there are other events, both positive and negative, taking place in the world, including circumstances that cry out for our attention such as the long-term effects of global warming, for example, and the historical and more recent inequalities in communities that hinder progress and cast a shadow over our achievements.
In the last few months, my style of living, like that of so many others, has been forced to change drastically–or at least has been put on hold–which has given me many moments for reflection and re-evaluation. I have also had the time to tackle – and in some cases complete – projects that in my pre-pandemic life precluded my attention. I hope some of the fruits of this period will be ready to bloom once the pandemic, or the worst effects of the pandemic, are behind us.
Let us keep alive the determination to work towards our future. We must persevere to find meaning in the new norm and in the recent past. In the midst of all this, I am thankful for those who give of themselves tirelessly to keep us safe, remind us that the time we have lost has been neither wasted nor unmeaningful, and appeal to us all to play our parts in shaping the world to come.
Midori
https://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/July2020.jpg475575Evelyn Vellemanhttps://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/midori.pngEvelyn Velleman2020-07-28 15:44:422020-07-29 07:29:30FROM MIDORI – JULY 2020
As the music world celebrates the 100th anniversary of Isaac Stern’s birth, Midori, who was mentored as a young artist by the legendary violinist, joins the commemoration in words and in music.
Midori is featured in the July 2020 issue of The Strad magazine in which she says, among other things, “My students today will tell you how often I mention Mr. Stern, especially when we come to a certain passage that reminds me of something he taught me. I miss him very much. Of course, I benefited directly from his interest in young musicians, but as I got older, I found out more about the things he was doing outside of playing and teaching.”
On NPR’s Weekend Edition, broadcaston July 19th, Midori said of Stern, “He wasn’t somebody who was just playing the violin. He took interest in the world; he took interest in his community; he took interest in the younger generation. He was so committed to giving himself and becoming involved, taking action where he felt that it was necessary.” Listen to the entire segment
Live with Carnegie Hall: Isaac Stern Centenary on July 21st at 2 pm (Eastern Standard Time) is a live stream featuring Midori as well as Emmanuel Ax, Jaime Laredo, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman and David, Michael and Shira Stern. Watch it on Facebook or YouTube
The Tanglewood Music Festival holds a Virtual Galain honor of Isaac Stern on Thursday July 23rd at 8 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) in which Midori takes part. Attendance is free but viewers must register to watch.
https://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/3-1.jpg489588Suzie Kellyhttps://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/midori.pngSuzie Kelly2020-07-21 18:05:492020-07-22 14:54:23MIDORI REMEMBERS ISAAC STERN
Midori joined conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya for an online Conversation on Life and Music as part of his Conducting Institute.
Seventy participants from the United States, Europe, South America and Asia took part and were able to ask questions after the initial conversation on wide-ranging subjects including Midori’s experience of working with the Maestro Leonard Bernstein, the importance of music, inspirations in everyday life, music advocacy, efficient practicing and her violin, bows and shoulder rest.
https://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/news_miguelmidori.jpg475575Clara Kimhttps://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/midori.pngClara Kim2020-05-29 09:08:592020-07-31 16:45:04MIDORI AND MIGUEL HARTH-BEDOYA CHAT ONLINE ABOUT LIFE AND MUSIC
In this time of great uncertainty and continuing unnerving news, I write to you from New York, where I have been sheltering-in-place for close to a month.
We are confronted daily by insurmountable news that assaults our psyches and corrodes our confidence in the world and in ourselves. Our thoughts go out to the medical personnel who, along with the heavily afflicted, are the warriors of this pandemic. We want them to know that we care and are concerned for their wellbeing, as we are about the many who have lost their jobs and their livelihoods. Our sympathy goes out to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives to this virus.
It is indeed a very strange feeling to be trapped and confronted by an invisible enemy. As I advocate good essential habits of Staying Put, Washing Hands Thoroughly, and Social Distancing, I also wonder how sane I can continue to be, my lifestyle having changed so drastically and so suddenly, without much time to prepare psychologically or physically.
Nevertheless, I keep on practicing and playing music at home. For one day, we will surely enter a period of recovery. And at that time — whether for a child, an elderly or a bereaved person, for someone feeling neglected, lonely or despondent – or for someone who has recovered from the virus — I want to be ready, when they are, to play for them music forged in the souls of fellow human beings, music that has survived the tests of past historical atrocities.
Midori
https://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/midori.png00Clara Kimhttps://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/midori.pngClara Kim2020-04-13 12:48:282020-07-31 17:08:50FROM MIDORI – APRIL 2020
Following recitals in the US and Europe in 2019 with sonatas by Schumann, Fauré, Debussy and Enescu, Midori and pianist Yean-Yves Thibaudet continued their partnership in 2020 with all-Beethoven sonata programs across the United States in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
Their coast-to-coast tour culminated in California, where they performed the complete Beethoven violin sonatas cycle over three concerts at Costa Mesa’s Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.
https://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/news_thibaudet.jpg475575Clara Kimhttps://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/midori.pngClara Kim2020-02-02 07:09:342020-07-31 17:28:26MIDORI AND JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET COMMEMORATE BEETHOVEN’S 250TH BIRTHDAY YEAR WITH RECITALS IN THE U.S.
As a United Nations Messenger of Peace since 2007, Midori has strongly supported the organization’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by all UN Member States in 2015 as part of a 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,which set out a 15-year plan to achieve the Goals.
With just 10 years to go, an ambitious global effort is underway to deliver the 2030 promise by mobilizing more governments, civil society, businesses and calling on all people to make the Global Goals their own.
Midori appears on a newly-released postcard to promote the Decade of Action.
https://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/Decade-of-Action-postcard.jpg6751200Clara Kimhttps://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/midori.pngClara Kim2020-02-01 03:42:592020-07-01 18:11:31Midori is featured on UN postcard promoting its Decade of Action initiative to deliver Sustainable Development Goals by 2030
In December 2019, Midori was joined by violinist Elina Buksha, violist Erika Gray and cellist Noémie Raymond-Friset for the latest instalment of the International Community Engagement Program (ICEP). Read about the participants This season’s ICEP took place in Cambodia, the site of an earlier ICEP 12 years ago.
Midori, Elina, Erica and Noémie met in Phnom Penh to rehearse before starting their two-week program of visits in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Battambang to hospitals, hospices and other medical facilities as well as to schools, support organizations for people with disabilities, with HIV and others who are victims of or at risk of rape, human trafficking and prostitution.
They also participated in cultural exchanges at the University of Fine Arts Department of Music with shared performances and discussions of their respective art forms, outreach activities and more.
The ICEP participants will reunite in June 2020 for the second part of each ICEP season, when they visit institutions in Japan, report on their experiences in the December ICEP country and perform a few public concerts.
For a more detailed account of the 2019 Cambodia ICEP, including links to many of the institutions they visited, please read the blog posted by the participants.
https://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/cropped-img_1322-e1482237340240-1.jpg12632000Clara Kimhttps://www.midori-violin.com/wp-content/uploads/midori.pngClara Kim2020-01-15 09:44:222020-07-01 18:11:31ICEP 2019 in Cambodia
A Greeting from Midori
/in From Midori, news /by Evelyn VellemanDear Friends,
We are at the end of an incredibly challenging year. In 2020 there have been so many tragic losses – of lives, of the stuff of life. Through the pandemic’s ravages, so many careers, businesses and institutions have been threatened or badly damaged. I do not know of anyone who has not somehow been affected by all of this. Beyond this year’s immediate health crisis, we continued to face violent greed and brutality, injustices and inequalities, as well as all manner of natural disasters.
Under these conditions, can we have hope for our future, for this world our children will inherit? Can we truly make sense of what has happened and can we learn from it?
In the face of all of this, I find reason for some optimism. I never forget that throughout history, humans have demonstrated resilience as well as destructiveness. We find reserves of moral strength within ourselves. We retain the capacity for coming together, in powerful, regenerative ways.
I believe that it is such togetherness, and our love and respect for others, which will help us override the world’s current crises. In my own case, in recent months I did experience some positiveness, and that kept me from losing faith in this life and world. It was certainly frustrating to be mostly limited to online connections with the people in my life — but through that, real warmth did come through from time to time, and I have never been more encouraged.
I hope that we will start a period of recovery in 2021. Along the way, I hope that we will have learned from all we have been through, leading to increasing mutual understanding and care. I look forward to a world which offers the possibility of people making meaningful connections among each other.
Midori
For an animated Season’s Greeting from Midori, please click here
Midori offers online workshops during the Covid pandemic through her Orchestra Residencies Program (ORP)
/in news /by Evelyn VellemanDuring the month of October, Midori was busy giving masterclasses and workshops throughout the United States via Zoom. The sessions were offered to young musicians, their parents and teachers. So far, she has worked with groups in Connecticut, New York, Colorado, Minnesota, Washington, Indiana and New Mexico, with sessions continuing in November.
In addition to masterclasses on specific works, the other subjects of her workshops are:
For parents, teachers and administrators, she also offers a presentation on Advocacy and Community Engagement
These online activities are being offered at no charge to youth orchestras in good standing with the League of American Orchestras.
For more information about Midori’s ORP Covid-19 Support Program
View sessions on YouTube
Midori’s Beethoven Concerto performance with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra is available for streaming until March 2021
/in news /by Evelyn VellemanMidori travelled to Glasgow in September to perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) and its music director Thomas Søndergård. Their performance is being streamed as part of the orchestra’s Covid-friendly digital season and will be available to watch until Sunday 14 March 2021.
Midori is Artist-in-Residence with the RSNO for the 2020-2021 season. She will also give the world-premiere with the orchestra of a new concerto composed for her by Detlev Glanert in January 2021.
Midori appears on the cover of the October 2020 Strad magazine
/in news /by Evelyn VellemanMidori is featured on the cover of the October 2020 issue of the Strad magazine.
In the magazine’s lead article, she speaks with Toby Deller about her preparation for the premiere of a concerto written for her by the German composer Detlev Glanert titled An die unsterbliche Geliebte (To the Immortal Beloved), inspired by Beethoven’s famous 1812 love letter and intended as a commemoration of Beethoven’s 250th birthday.
Midori also discusses her early curiosity about new music, her recitals focusing on works by contemporary female composers, her own education and her approach to teaching.
She speaks about her new recording of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and the two Romances, which will be released in mid-October by Warner Classics.
In conclusion, Midori muses on the near future for artists and audiences and on the power of music to heal: “Music is something that can bring smiles back to people, it’s something that can help people grieve, it’s something that can help people be consoled, or to dream.”
Midori’s recording of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Two Romances to be released on October 16th by Warner Classics
/in news /by Evelyn VellemanMidori performs these works with the Festival Strings Lucerne on a recording made in early March 2020, just prior to the global pandemic lockdown.
The recording sessions had originally been planned around a concert performance with the orchestra at the KKL, Lucerne’s Culture and Congress Centre, and subsequent concerts in the UK, Singapore, China and Korea, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancellation or postponement of the entire tour. The Swiss concert was cancelled at less than 48 hours’ notice as Midori and the orchestra were already in the midst of rehearsals.
Midori explains: As everyone’s health and safety were of paramount concern, we were naturally obliged to follow official guidance. Nonetheless, we were grateful to receive permission to move ahead with our recording. Just beyond, a new and dangerous world was lurking … In retrospect, the recording experience felt as if we were racing against the clock, to still be making live music, in direct company of each other, breathing in harmony.
Through all of that, Beethoven guided my colleagues and me, his work focusing and inspiring us, our concentrations heightened, enveloped together in our musical efforts … Beethoven has provided a fortunate focus for me in such fraught times. I am reminded that he was a man of strong beliefs and a morality to which he fully committed, as an activist who took firm stands on many major issues of his day. At the same time, he maintained the discipline that allowed him to create profoundly beautiful, often serene music despite his many personal disappointments and struggles.
Beethoven’s determination still provides a model for humankind, leading us to recognize the best in our world as we reach toward the many achievements of which we are all potentially capable. Finding my place, as a musician, interpreting several of Beethoven’s masterpieces, grounds and inspires me today, as we all face many challenges ahead.
Midori takes part in observance of United Nations International Peace Day
/in news /by Evelyn VellemanUnited Nations to Highlight Importance of Global Ceasefire, Dialogue during International Peace Day Observance
Hundreds of students from across the globe will come together on 17 September in a virtual event to mark the 2020 International Day of Peace. The Day, commemorated annually on 21 September, was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1981 and is devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace through observing 24 hours of non-violence and ceasefire.
Organized under the theme “Shaping Peace Together”, activities this year will include the annual Peace Bell Ceremony and global student conference. The student conference will include remarks by Messengers of Peace including Midori, Princess Haya, Paulo Coelho, Jane Goodall and Yo-Yo Ma.
Students will be invited to participate in a question-and-answer session with the Messengers of Peace before engaging in a dialogue about their visions for a peaceful world. As the United Nations marks its seventy-fifth anniversary in 2020, this dialogue will be part of a global conversation on building the peaceful and prosperous future we want.
The event will link to a live feed of the Peace Bell Ceremony from the Peace Garden, which will begin at 11 a.m. EST
Secretary-General António Guterres and Volkan Bozkir (Turkey), President of the seventy-fifth session of the General Assembly, will ring the Peace Bell in the company of Ishikane Kimihiro, Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, and Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications.
There will be performances by top hip hop artists from New York, New Orleans and Poland and by the United Nations Singers, comprising United Nations staff members and others. The event will conclude with remarks by the Secretary‑General to student participants.
The Peace Bell Ceremony and student observance will also be broadcast live via United Nations webcast.
Midori’s Orchestra Residencies Program offers online workshops to support students, parents and teachers during the 2020-2021 season
/in news /by Evelyn VellemanMidori’s Orchestra Residencies Program (ORP) is pleased to offer a selection of online workshops to support youth orchestras during the 2020-2021 season in an effort to help keep young musicians engaged, motivated and excited during these unusual times.
These ORP offerings are available on a first-come, first-served basis and range from a masterclass to workshops on how to practice, presentations for parents and teachers and opportunities to speak with local legislatures.
The workshop activities are being offered at no charge to youth orchestras in good standing with the League of American Orchestras.
Each workshop is approximately one hour in length.
Category A: For Students
*This program could be supplemented with a short performance by Midori
• Violin and/or Chamber Music Masterclass * external mic recommended
• For String Players: How to Maintain Your Instrument
• Workshop: How to Practice
• Oral Heritage: Who to Listen to and What to Listen for
Category B: For Parents and Teachers
*May only be selected in addition to a workshop from Category A
• How to Support and Encourage Your Child to Practice Well
• Encouraging Young People to Keep Music in their Lives / Life Beyond High School
Category C: Advocacy and Leadership: In Conversation with Community Leaders or Music Directors
*May only be selected in addition to a workshop from Category A
• Advocacy Through and For Music
• Leadership in the Community
• Healing through Music: Discussing Midori’s role as a UN Messenger of Peace
Category D: Request Your Own Workshop
State how your proposed additional activity would support your youth orchestra. Please feel free to include additional pages or documents, if necessary.
Please access the 2020-2021 Orchestra Residencies Program requirements and submission form at the Eligibility and Applications tab of the ORP website
FROM MIDORI – JULY 2020
/in From Midori, news /by Evelyn VellemanDear Friends,
I hope the uncertain situation we are living under has not impacted us in only negative ways. While I find the current circumstances to be challenging, I am doing my best to protect myself and others, to be as productive as possible, and to participate consciously in my community.
Much of our attention is inevitably drawn to the repercussions of COVID; yet there are other events, both positive and negative, taking place in the world, including circumstances that cry out for our attention such as the long-term effects of global warming, for example, and the historical and more recent inequalities in communities that hinder progress and cast a shadow over our achievements.
In the last few months, my style of living, like that of so many others, has been forced to change drastically–or at least has been put on hold–which has given me many moments for reflection and re-evaluation. I have also had the time to tackle – and in some cases complete – projects that in my pre-pandemic life precluded my attention. I hope some of the fruits of this period will be ready to bloom once the pandemic, or the worst effects of the pandemic, are behind us.
Let us keep alive the determination to work towards our future. We must persevere to find meaning in the new norm and in the recent past. In the midst of all this, I am thankful for those who give of themselves tirelessly to keep us safe, remind us that the time we have lost has been neither wasted nor unmeaningful, and appeal to us all to play our parts in shaping the world to come.
Midori
MIDORI REMEMBERS ISAAC STERN
/in news /by Suzie KellyAs the music world celebrates the 100th anniversary of Isaac Stern’s birth, Midori, who was mentored as a young artist by the legendary violinist, joins the commemoration in words and in music.
Midori is featured in the July 2020 issue of The Strad magazine in which she says, among other things, “My students today will tell you how often I mention Mr. Stern, especially when we come to a certain passage that reminds me of something he taught me. I miss him very much. Of course, I benefited directly from his interest in young musicians, but as I got older, I found out more about the things he was doing outside of playing and teaching.”
On NPR’s Weekend Edition, broadcast on July 19th, Midori said of Stern, “He wasn’t somebody who was just playing the violin. He took interest in the world; he took interest in his community; he took interest in the younger generation. He was so committed to giving himself and becoming involved, taking action where he felt that it was necessary.” Listen to the entire segment
Live with Carnegie Hall: Isaac Stern Centenary on July 21st at 2 pm (Eastern Standard Time) is a live stream featuring Midori as well as Emmanuel Ax, Jaime Laredo, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman and David, Michael and Shira Stern. Watch it on Facebook or YouTube
The Tanglewood Music Festival holds a Virtual Gala in honor of Isaac Stern on Thursday July 23rd at 8 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) in which Midori takes part. Attendance is free but viewers must register to watch.
MIDORI AND MIGUEL HARTH-BEDOYA CHAT ONLINE ABOUT LIFE AND MUSIC
/in news /by Clara KimMidori joined conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya for an online Conversation on Life and Music as part of his Conducting Institute.
Seventy participants from the United States, Europe, South America and Asia took part and were able to ask questions after the initial conversation on wide-ranging subjects including Midori’s experience of working with the Maestro Leonard Bernstein, the importance of music, inspirations in everyday life, music advocacy, efficient practicing and her violin, bows and shoulder rest.
FROM MIDORI – APRIL 2020
/in From Midori /by Clara KimDear Friends,
In this time of great uncertainty and continuing unnerving news, I write to you from New York, where I have been sheltering-in-place for close to a month.
We are confronted daily by insurmountable news that assaults our psyches and corrodes our confidence in the world and in ourselves. Our thoughts go out to the medical personnel who, along with the heavily afflicted, are the warriors of this pandemic. We want them to know that we care and are concerned for their wellbeing, as we are about the many who have lost their jobs and their livelihoods. Our sympathy goes out to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives to this virus.
It is indeed a very strange feeling to be trapped and confronted by an invisible enemy. As I advocate good essential habits of Staying Put, Washing Hands Thoroughly, and Social Distancing, I also wonder how sane I can continue to be, my lifestyle having changed so drastically and so suddenly, without much time to prepare psychologically or physically.
Nevertheless, I keep on practicing and playing music at home. For one day, we will surely enter a period of recovery. And at that time — whether for a child, an elderly or a bereaved person, for someone feeling neglected, lonely or despondent – or for someone who has recovered from the virus — I want to be ready, when they are, to play for them music forged in the souls of fellow human beings, music that has survived the tests of past historical atrocities.
Midori
MIDORI POSTS PUBLIC SERVICE ANIMATIONS REGARDING COVID-19
/in news /by Clara KimMidori recently posted two PSAs related to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
PSA 1: Practice Makes Perfect
PSA 2: From Home
You can find links here: https://www.facebook.com/GoToMidori/videos/1729312913878254/
MIDORI AND JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET COMMEMORATE BEETHOVEN’S 250TH BIRTHDAY YEAR WITH RECITALS IN THE U.S.
/in news /by Clara KimFollowing recitals in the US and Europe in 2019 with sonatas by Schumann, Fauré, Debussy and Enescu, Midori and pianist Yean-Yves Thibaudet continued their partnership in 2020 with all-Beethoven sonata programs across the United States in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
Their coast-to-coast tour culminated in California, where they performed the complete Beethoven violin sonatas cycle over three concerts at Costa Mesa’s Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.
Midori is featured on UN postcard promoting its Decade of Action initiative to deliver Sustainable Development Goals by 2030
/in news /by Clara KimAs a United Nations Messenger of Peace since 2007, Midori has strongly supported the organization’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by all UN Member States in 2015 as part of a 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which set out a 15-year plan to achieve the Goals.
With just 10 years to go, an ambitious global effort is underway to deliver the 2030 promise by mobilizing more governments, civil society, businesses and calling on all people to make the Global Goals their own.
Midori appears on a newly-released postcard to promote the Decade of Action.
ICEP 2019 in Cambodia
/in news /by Clara KimIn December 2019, Midori was joined by violinist Elina Buksha, violist Erika Gray and cellist Noémie Raymond-Friset for the latest instalment of the International Community Engagement Program (ICEP). Read about the participants This season’s ICEP took place in Cambodia, the site of an earlier ICEP 12 years ago.
Midori, Elina, Erica and Noémie met in Phnom Penh to rehearse before starting their two-week program of visits in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Battambang to hospitals, hospices and other medical facilities as well as to schools, support organizations for people with disabilities, with HIV and others who are victims of or at risk of rape, human trafficking and prostitution.
They also participated in cultural exchanges at the University of Fine Arts Department of Music with shared performances and discussions of their respective art forms, outreach activities and more.
The ICEP participants will reunite in June 2020 for the second part of each ICEP season, when they visit institutions in Japan, report on their experiences in the December ICEP country and perform a few public concerts.
For a more detailed account of the 2019 Cambodia ICEP, including links to many of the institutions they visited, please read the blog posted by the participants.