Japanese-American violinist Midori is recognized internationally not only for the evolution and scope of her 29-year career as an extraordinarily gifted performer, but for the community engagement initiatives to which she devotes a substantial amount of her energies and resources. Named a U.N. Messenger of Peace in 2007, she has created a new model for young artists who seek to balance the joys and demands of a performing career at the highest level with a hands-on investment in the power of music to change lives.

Midori debuted with the Minnesota Orchestra in 1990, in a gala concert at which she performed the Brahms Violin Concerto, and since has been featured with the Orchestra in Wieniawski’s Second Violin Concerto as well as the Sibelius Violin Concerto. This season, in addition to her Minnesota Orchestra appearances, she performs concerts in 12 countries on four continents with such ensembles as the National Symphony, Royal Danish Orchestra and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. She also performs four European recital tours and teaches at the Thornton School of Music in Southern California, where she is Jascha Heifetz Chair and head of the string department.

Midori devotes substantial amounts of time to the four community engagement programs she has founded in the U.S. and Japan. They include Midori & Friends, a 26-week introductory music course for New York City public school children; Music Sharing, which brings classical music and traditional Japanese music to young people throughout Japan; Partners in Performance, which involves smaller communities in presenting recitals; and the Orchestral Residencies Program, which supports and encourages youth orchestras in the U.S.

Midori, a native of Osaka, was a prodigy who exhibited prodigious musical gifts at the age of 2, began on a 1/16th-size violin at 3, astounded Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic at 11 and, already world-famous, made her first recording at 14. Among her many prize-winning albums is a Grammy-nominated disc of Paganini Caprices for solo violin.

*(Photo by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders)