Midori, violin

Midori was born in Osaka, Japan in 1971 and began her violin studies with her mother, Setsu Goto, after displaying a strong aptitude for music 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 Eve concert. The standing ovation that followed her debut spurred Midori to pursue a major musical career at the highest level.

She is a visionary artist, activist and educator whose unique career has transcended traditional boundaries through her relentless drive to explore and build connections between music and the human experience. Never at rest, Midori brings the same dynamic innovation and expressive insight that has made her a prominent concert violinist to her other roles as a noted global cultural ambassador and a dedicated music educator.

A leading concert violinist for over 35 years, Midori regularly transfixes audiences around the world, bringing together graceful precision and intimate expression that allows the listening public to not just hear music but to be personally moved by it. She has performed with, among many others, the London, Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco symphony orchestras, the Berlin, Vienna, New York, Los Angeles, St Petersburg and Czech philharmonics, the Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. She has collaborated with such outstanding musicians as Claudio Abbado, Leonard Bernstein, Emanuel Ax, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Christoph Eschenbach, Mariss Jansons, Paavo Järvi, Antonello Manacorda, Constantinos Carydis, Yo-Yo Ma, Susanna Mälkki, and Menahem Pressler.

Midori’s diverse discography includes sonatas by Bloch, Janáček and Shostakovich performed with pianist Özgür Aydin, and a 2013 Grammy Award-winning recording of Hindemith’s violin concerto with Christoph Eschenbach conducting the NDR Symphony Orchestra. The two-CD set of her highly acclaimed interpretation of J.S. Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin was released in 2015.