Akiko Suwanai facts for kids

Akiko Suwanai (諏訪内 晶子, Suwanai Akiko, born February 7, 1972) is a famous Japanese classical violinist. She is known for her amazing talent and for winning major music competitions.

When she was 18, Akiko Suwanai became the youngest person ever to win the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1990. This is a very important music contest. She also won second prize in the Paganini Competition in 1988 and the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 1989. She has won other awards too, like the Music Competition of Japan.

Akiko Suwanai studied with several great teachers. She learned from Toshiya Eto at the Toho Gakuen School of Music. Later, she studied with Dorothy DeLay and Cho-Liang Lin at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. She also took classes at Columbia University. After that, she studied with Uwe-Martin Haiberg in Berlin, Germany.

For many years, until 2019, she played a very special violin. It was a 1714 Dolphin Stradivarius, loaned to her by the Nippon Music Foundation. After returning it, she received another valuable violin. This one is a "Charles Reade" Guarneri del Gesù. It is on loan from a Japanese collector named Ryuji Ueno.

Akiko Suwanai's Early Life and Training

Akiko Suwanai was born in Tokyo, Japan. When she was just two and a half years old, she showed a strong interest in sounds. Her parents noticed this and took her to a violin class nearby. That's where she first saw and touched a violin.

She began learning the violin at age three. At first, she had lessons once a week. By age four, her lessons increased to twice a week. She remembers always looking forward to these lessons. During her first summer break from elementary school, her family moved to Machida City. There, she started attending a music school from the second grade.

In 1979, Akiko entered a special program for talented young musicians. It was called the ‘Music Class for Children’ at the private Toho Gakuen School of Music. This program is very competitive in Japan. During her childhood, her family moved to Nagoya for a while. There, she was tutored by Shinji Nishizaki, who is the father of another famous violinist, Takako Nishizaki. When Akiko was 14, she studied with the well-known violinist Toshiya Eto. During her middle school years, she won the Japan Student Music Competition.

Winning Major Music Competitions

In her first year of high school, Akiko won the Japan Music Competition for violin. She later earned second place in the Paganini Competition. She also placed second in the 1989 Japan International Music Competition. In the 1989 Queen Elisabeth Competition, she won second prize at just 17 years old. This competition is one of the world’s three biggest violin contests.

The next year, on July 5, 1990, Akiko Suwanai made history. At 18, she became the youngest winner ever of the International Tchaikovsky Competition. This amazing achievement brought her global attention. After finishing high school, she completed a special soloist course at the Toho Gakuen School of Music.

In March 1991, she went to study in the United States. She attended the Juilliard School as a trainee. There, she studied with the famous teacher Dorothy DeLay. She also took classes in political philosophy and political science at Columbia University. She earned her Master’s degree from Juilliard in 1995. Later, in 2009, she studied for two years at the Berlin University of the Arts. In 2011, she completed her advanced soloist course. This earned her Germany’s National Performer Qualification.

In the 1990s, Akiko Suwanai signed a contract with Columbia Artists Management in the U.S. She also signed an exclusive international recording contract with Decca Records. This is a British record label that is part of Universal Music Group.

Important Performances and Instruments

Akiko Suwanai has performed many important musical pieces. In 1999, she performed the Japanese premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki’s Violin Concerto No. 2. The composer himself conducted the orchestra at Suntory Hall. In 2004, she performed the world premiere of Lera Auerbach’s Violin Concerto No. 2. This took place at the Ishikawa Concert Hall. Lera Auerbach was a classmate of Akiko at Juilliard.

In 2007, Akiko Suwanai performed the premiere of Peter Eötvös’s Violin Concerto “Seven.” Pierre Boulez conducted this performance at the Lucerne Festival. In 2008, she performed “Seven” in Japan with the NHK Symphony Orchestra. She later performed it in Budapest, Berlin, and London. Today, she lives in Paris, France, and mostly records music in Europe.

Her Special Violins

Akiko Suwanai first used a Guadagnini violin. But from the 1990 Tchaikovsky Competition, she was loaned a Stradivarius violin made in 1690. Then, in 2000, she received a very special loan for 20 years. It was the famous 1714 “Dolphin” Stradivarius. This violin was once played by the legendary Jascha Heifetz. It was loaned to her by the Nippon Music Foundation.

Since October 2020, she has been using a 1732 Guarneri del Gesù violin. This violin is known as the “Charles Reade.” It is on a long-term loan from Dr. Ryuji Ueno, who supports the arts.

Akiko Suwanai's Music Albums

Akiko Suwanai has released many albums. Here are some of them:

• Bruch: Concerto No. 1 / Scottish Fantasy

  Akiko Suwanai, violin

  Sir Neville Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

  Released: November 11, 1997 by Philips Classics Records

• Akiko Suwanai: Souvenir

  Akiko Suwanai, violin; Phillip Moll, piano

  Released: June 8, 1998 by Philips Classics Records

• Dvořák: Violin Concerto, etc.

  Akiko Suwanai, violin

  Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra

  Released: October 9, 2001 by Decca Music Group

• Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E Minor / Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major

  Akiko Suwanai, violin

  Vladimir Ashkenazy, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

  Released: December 20, 2001 by Decca Music Group

• Brahms, Dvořák, Janáček

  Akiko Suwanai, violin

  Released: May 8, 2002 by Philips Classics Records

• Sibelius & Walton Violin Concertos

  Akiko Suwanai, violin

  Sakari Oramo, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

  Released: 2003 by Decca Music Group

• Poème

  Akiko Suwanai, violin

  Charles Dutoit, Philharmonia Orchestra of London

  Released: November 9, 2004 by Decca Music Group

• Bach: Violin Concertos

  Akiko Suwanai, violin

  Chamber Orchestra of Europe

  Released: May 2, 2006 by Decca Music Group

See also

In Spanish: Akiko Suwanai para niños