News

Midori takes part in observance of United Nations International Peace Day

September 17, 2020/in news /by Evelyn Velleman

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.

Midori’s Orchestra Residencies Program offers online workshops to support students, parents and teachers during the 2020-2021 season

September 16, 2020/in news /by Evelyn Velleman

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

FROM MIDORI – JULY 2020

July 28, 2020/in From Midori, news /by Evelyn Velleman

Dear 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

July 21, 2020/in news /by Suzie Kelly

As the music world celebrates the 100^th 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 19^th, 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 23^rd 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

May 29, 2020/in news /by Clara Kim

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.

FROM MIDORI – APRIL 2020

April 13, 2020/in From Midori /by Clara Kim

Dear 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

April 7, 2020/in news /by Clara Kim

Midori 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.

February 2, 2020/in news /by Clara Kim

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 250^th 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

February 1, 2020/in news /by Clara Kim

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.

ICEP 2019 in Cambodia

January 15, 2020/in news /by Clara Kim

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.

Midori is in Cambodia with ICEP (International Community Engagement Program)

December 16, 2019/in news /by Clara Kim

As she has done since 2006, Midori ends her calendar year with the International Community Engagement Program (ICEP) of her Japanese foundation MUSIC SHARING. While Christmas is being celebrated in many western countries at the end of December, the violinist and UN Messenger of Peace forms a quartet with three young musicians – this year Elina Buksha (violin), Erika Gray (viola) and Noémie Raymond-Friset (cello) – to share their music in Cambodia in an exchange with the local culture, especially with marginalized children and young people in disadvantaged areas of the country.
Since 2016, Midori and her young musician colleagues have maintained a MUSIC SHARING ICEP blog in which they relay their impressions. There you will also find biographies of the participating musicians and general information about the program and the foundation.
For videos from previous ICEP visits, please look on MUSIC SHARING’s YouTube channel .

MIDORI AWARDED BRAHMS PRIZE 2020

November 22, 2019/in news /by Clara Kim

The Brahms Society Schleswig-Holstein announced on Thursday, November 21, 2019 in Heide, that it has awarded Midori the Brahms Prize 2020. The award ceremony will take place on 3 May 2020 in St. Bartholomew’s Church in Wesselburen.

In an excerpt from the Brahms Society’s statement:
The Brahms Society honors an outstanding violinist and proven Brahms interpreter, one of the most impressive personalities in the music world. The famous artist is honored for her internationally acclaimed interpretations of the works of Johannes Brahms as well as for her great support of the next generation of artists and special commitment in the spirit of humanity for cultural projects.

Here you can find the Brahms Society’s statement (in German).

Midori appointed to a named faculty chair at The Curtis Institute of Music

November 1, 2019/in news /by Clara Kim

Midori has been appointed to one of The Curtis Institute of Music’s named faculty chairs. She now holds the Dorothy Richard Starling Chair in Violin Studies, previously held by Aaron Rosand. Midori joined the faculty in 2018.
You can read the official announcement here.

Midori tours with works by contemporary female composers

October 25, 2019/in news /by Clara Kim

Between November 2nd and 8th, Midori and pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute present a program consisting solely of works by contemporary female composers Olga Neuwirth, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Vivian Fung, Sofia Gubaidulina, including a world premiere by Tamar Diesendruck. The recitals will take place at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, Le Poisson Rouge in New York and London’s Kings Place.
November 2: Washington, D.C. Library of Congress
November 4: New York Le Poisson Rouge
November 8: London King’s Place
On her Facebook page, Midori speaks about the project in general and about each of the works. Please click on the links to watch and listen to these short videos.
Vivian Fung: Bird Song
Sofia Gubaidulina: Dancer on a Tightrope
Olga Neuwirth: Quasars / Pulsars
Tamar Diesendruck Unruly Strands – World Premiere
Franghiz Ali-Zadeh: Habil-Sayagi
The recital at the New York nightclub Le Poisson Rouge was announced in The New Yorker

Partners in Performance (PiP) recitals on both coasts of the U.S.

September 10, 2019/in news /by Clara Kim

On September 20 and 22, Midori and pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute performed recitals in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Ridgecrest, California as part of Midori’s non-profit organization Partners in Performance.
Since its founding in 2003, Partners in Performance has co-sponsored over three dozen chamber music programs throughout the United States with the goal of stimulating interest in classical music in smaller communities.
This year’s PiP recital repertoire includes works by Brahms, Fauré and Debussy.

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