Midori (violinist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Midori
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Midori at the White House in 2021
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Midori Goto |
| Also known as | Midori (formerly styled as Mi Dori) |
| Born | October 25, 1971 Hirakata, Osaka, Japan |
| Genres | Classical |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Violin |
| Years active | 1982–present |
Midori Goto (born October 25, 1971), known simply as Midori, is a famous Japanese-born American violinist. She played her first big concert with the New York Philharmonic when she was only 11 years old in 1982. In 1986, her amazing performance at the Tanglewood Music Festival with Leonard Bernstein made headlines in The New York Times. Midori quickly became known as a child prodigy. As an adult, she grew into one of the world's best violinists.
Midori is also celebrated for her work as an educator and for helping communities through music. When she was 21, she started her foundation, Midori and Friends. This group helps bring music education to young people in areas of New York City and Japan that don't have many resources. This foundation has grown into four different organizations that help people all over the world. In 2007, Midori was chosen as a UN Messenger of Peace. She also teaches violin at the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. In 2012, she became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Contents
Early Life and Music Beginnings
Midori was born Midori Goto in Osaka, Japan, on October 25, 1971. After her parents divorced in 1983, she stopped using her father's last name for her stage name. She first used "Mi Dori" and then decided on just "Midori". Her father was an engineer, and her mother, Setsu Gotō, was a professional violinist.
Midori's mother often took young Midori to her orchestra rehearsals. The toddler would sleep in the front row while her mother practiced. One day, Setsu heard two-year-old Midori humming a Bach concerto that had been rehearsed two days earlier. Midori often tried to touch her mother's violin. She even climbed onto the family piano to try and reach it. For Midori's third birthday, her mother gave her a tiny 1/16 size violin and started teaching her lessons.
Midori's Amazing Career
Midori gave her first public performance at age six in Osaka. She played one of the very difficult 24 Caprices by Paganini. In 1982, she and her mother moved to New York City. There, Midori began studying violin with Dorothy DeLay at the Pre-College Division of Juilliard School. She also studied at the Aspen Music Festival and School. For her audition, Midori played Bach's thirteen-minute-long Chaconne. This piece is known as one of the hardest solo violin pieces.
In the same year, she made her first big concert appearance with the New York Philharmonic. She played under the conductor Zubin Mehta, with whom she would later record music. In 1986, she had a legendary performance of Leonard Bernstein's Serenade at Tanglewood. Bernstein himself was conducting. During the concert, she broke the E string on her violin. Then, she broke it again on the concertmaster's Stradivarius violin, which she had borrowed. She finished the concert using the associate concertmaster's Guadagnini violin and received a huge standing ovation. The next day, The New York Times front page had the headline, "Girl, 14, Conquers Tanglewood with 3 Violins".
When Midori was 15, she left Juilliard Pre-College in 1987. She became a full-time professional violinist. In October 1989, she celebrated her 18th birthday with her first orchestral concert at Carnegie Hall. She played Bartok's Violin Concerto No. 2. Her first solo concert at Carnegie Hall was in 1990, just before her 19th birthday. Both performances were highly praised by critics. In 1990, she also graduated from the Professional Children's School, where she studied regular school subjects.
Helping Others Through Music
In 1992, Midori started Midori and Friends. This is a non-profit organization that brings music education to children in New York City and Japan. She started it after learning that music programs were being cut in U.S. schools. Her organization, Music Sharing, began as a branch of Midori and Friends in Tokyo. It became its own independent group in 2002. Music Sharing teaches young people about Western classical music and traditional Japanese music. It also offers instrument lessons for people with disabilities. Its International Community Engagement Program trains young musicians from around the world. It helps them share cultures and get involved in communities.
In 2000, Midori graduated with high honors from the Gallatin School at New York University. She earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology and Gender Studies. She completed this degree in five years while still performing concerts. She later earned a master's degree in psychology from NYU in 2005. Her master's project was about pain research. In 2001, Midori returned to the stage and also started teaching at the Manhattan School of Music. With money she received from winning the Avery Fisher Prize, she created the Partners in Performance program. This program supports classical music groups in smaller communities. In 2004, Midori started the Orchestra Residencies program in the U.S. for youth orchestras. This program expanded in 2010 to include orchestras outside the U.S.
In 2004, Midori became a professor at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. She holds the Jascha Heifetz Chair there. She moved to Los Angeles full-time in 2006. In 2007, she became the head of the Strings Department. In 2012, she was named a distinguished professor at USC. She was also chosen for the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and received an honorary doctorate in music from Yale University. Midori also taught at Oxford University from 2013–2014. She joined the violin faculty at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute in 2018. She continues to teach violin at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music.
Awards and Honors
Midori has received many awards for her musical talent and her community work.
- She was named Artist of the Year by the Japanese government in 1988.
- She won the 25th Suntory Music Award in 1993.
- She received the Avery Fisher Prize in 2001.
- She was named Musical America’s Instrumentalist of the Year in 2002.
- She won the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis in 2002 and 2003.
- She received the Kennedy Center Gold Medal in the Arts in 2010.
- She won the Mellon Mentoring Award in 2012.
- In 2007, Midori was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace.
- In 2012, she received the important Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum in Davos. This was for her "20-year devotion to community engagement work worldwide".
- In May 2021, she was honored at the 43rd Kennedy Center Honors.
- In May 2022, Midori received the John D. Rockefeller III Award from the Asian Cultural Council. This award is given to people who have greatly helped international understanding of Asian arts.
Personal Life and Family
In her twenties, Midori faced some health challenges. After recovering, she continued to perform and also studied psychology and gender studies at New York University. For a while, she thought about becoming a psychologist, especially working with children.
Midori's half-brother, Ryu, and her stepfather, Makoto Kaneshiro, are both violinists. Makoto Kaneshiro was also a former assistant to her violin teacher, Dorothy DeLay.
In 2019, Midori was honored with the Great Immigrants Award by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Midori's Violin
Midori plays a special violin made in 1731 by Guarneri. It is known as the "ex-Huberman" violin. Her violin bows are made by famous bow makers Dominique Peccatte (she has two) and François Peccatte (she has one).
Discography
Midori has recorded many classical music albums. Here are some of them:
- Bach/Vivaldi: Double Violin Concertos (Philips Records, 1986)
- Paganini: 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op.1 (CBS Masterworks Records, 1989)
- Dvořák: Violin Concerto, Romance and Carnival Overture (Sony Classical, 1989)
- Bartok – Violin Concertos No.1 & No.2 (Sony Classical, 1991)
- Midori: Live At Carnegie Hall (Sony Classical, 1991)
- Encore! (Sony Classical, 1992)
- Sibelius: Violin Concerto / Bruch: Scottish Fantasy (Sony Classical, 1994)
- Tchaikovsky & Shostakovich: Violin Concertos (Sony Classical, 1994)
- Franck: Elgar: Violin Sonata in E minor, Op. 82, Violin Sonata in A Major (Sony Classical, 1997)
- Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante in E-Flat Major & Concerto in D Major (Sony Classical, 2001)
- Debussy, Poulenc & Saint-Saëns: Violin Sonatas (Sony Classical, 2002)
- Midori – 20th Anniversary Album (Sony Classical, 2002)
- Mendelssohn & Bruch Violin Concertos (Sony Classical, 2002)
- Bach Sonata No. 2 in A minor, Bartók: Sonata No. 1 (Sony Classical, 2008)
- The Essential Midori (Sony Classical, 2008)
- Violin Sonatas of Bloch, Janáček and Shostakovich (Sony Classical, 2013)
- Hindemith: Violin Concerto; Symphonic Metamorphosis; Konzertmusik (Ondine, 2013)
- Bach: Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin (Onyx Classics, 2015)
- Beethoven: Violin Concerto & Romances Nos. 1 & 2 (Warner Classics, 2020)
