Karen Gomyo, violin

Recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2008, violinist Karen Gomyo has been hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “A first-rate artist of real musical command, vitality, brilliance and intensity”, and by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as “captivating, honest and soulful, fueled by abundant talent but not a vain display of technique”.

Gomyo has established herself in recent years as a much in demand soloist internationally, performing with orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Cleveland Orchestra. Outside of the US, she has appeared with the Danish National Symphony, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony, and Sydney Symphony.

In February, 2015, Gomyo performs the U.S. première of Matthias Pintscher’s Violin Concerto “Mar’eh” with the National Symphony of Washington D.C.’s and the composer conducting. Other 2014-2015 highlights include returns to the Cleveland Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the Oregon Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony, and a return to Australia, making her debuts with the Tasmanian Symphony and the Melbourne Symphony. She performs with the Taipei Symphony, and in Europe she makes her debut with the Staatsoper Hannover, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, Aalborg Symfoniorkester (in a première of Anders Koppel’s new concerto), and Argovia Philharmonic (Switzerland tour).

Last season included debuts at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam with Den Haag Resident Orkest, which was televised on Netherlands National Television, the Dresden Musikfestspiele in a recital with guitarist Ismo Eskelinen, a tour of Australia including the Sydney Symphony, Queensland and Western Australian Symphonies, and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.

In recital and chamber music, Gomyo has performed in festivals throughout the U.S. and Europe. During the summer of 2014 she joins the Risí¸r Festival (Norway), Bí¼singen Festival (Germany) and Musiktage Mondsee (Austria), where she will perform with Lars Anders Tomter, Leif Ove Andsnes, Christian Ihle Hadland, Sharon Kam, Christian Poltéra, and Lawrence Power.

Karen Gomyo has worked with conductors Sir Andrew Davis, Leonard Slatkin, Neeme Järvi, Andrew Litton, David Robertson, David Zinman, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Louis Langrée, Thomas Dausgaard, Pinchas Zukerman, Heinrich Schiff, Peter Oundjian, Hannu Lintu, Vasily Petrenko, Kirill Karabits, Robin Ticciati, and Jakub Hrůša.
In December 2013, a documentary film about Stradivarius called “The Mysteries of the Supreme Violin”, in which Gomyo is violinist, navigator, and narrator, was broadcast worldwide on NHK WORLD.

Gomyo is deeply interested in the Nuevo Tango of Astor Piazzolla, and has an ongoing special project with Piazzolla’s longtime pianist and tango legend Pablo Ziegler and his partners Hector del Curto (bandoneon), Claudio Ragazzi (electric guitar), and Pedro Giraudo (double bass).

Karen Gomyo plays the “Aurora, ex-Foulis” Stradivarius violin of 1703 that was bought for her exclusive use by a private sponsor.