Japan ICEP concert returns on June 16th following pandemic break

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Three years after the last International Community Engagement Program (ICEP) took place in Japan, Oji Hall in Tokyo will be the site of a concert by the ICEP quartet, consisting of violinists Midori and Yebin Yoo, violist Erika Gray and cellist Noémie Raymond-Friset.

The musicians will also visit schools, hospitals and nursing homes in Japan, as they have traditionally done in June each year.

The Oji Hall program, taking place on June 16th will feature performances of Rachmaninov’s String Quartet No. 1 in G minor and Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major as well as a report on recent Music Sharing activities. Music Sharing is the non-profit organization under whose aegis the International Community Engagement Program has taken place since 2006.

For more information on the concert, please look on the facebook page.  More information on ICEP can be found here.

 

Midori to take part in Carnegie Hall’s “Concert for Ukraine” on May 23

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Participants will include singer Michael Feinstein, violinist Itzhak Perlman, pianist Evgeny Kissin, soprano Angel Blue, and a host of leading classical, jazz, opera and Broadway stars, as well as the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York, an ensemble that specializes in secular and sacred music from Ukraine.

100% of the proceeds will go to Direct Relief, a humanitarian aid nonprofit organization that provides urgently needed medical supplies to relief groups on the ground in Ukraine.

Please check the Carnegie Hall website for more details.

First live ORP in two years

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In early May, Midori was delighted to hold her first live Orchestra Residencies Program (ORP) post-lockdown at Artis – Naples in Florida.

Founded in 2004, ORP is the collaborative musical and educational project in which Midori works with youth orchestras to provide meaningful experiences for the next generation of musicians and music lovers. During the Covid pandemic, she offered online masterclasses and workshops when travel and live appearances were not possible.

Midori’s Artis – Naples residency included intensive work with the Naples Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and the Naples Philharmonic Youth Symphonia. She rehearsed with both ensembles, coached chamber music, presented workshops and led master classes over four days. She also gave presentations at several local schools.

The Artis – Naples residency concluded with a performance by Midori with the Naples Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Naples Philharmonic Youth Symphonia led by Radu Paponiu and Gregg Anderson in a program that featured Spring Cadenzas, a commissioned work by American composer Derek Bermel written specifically for Midori’s Orchestra Residencies Program, and the third movement of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor.

A Message from Midori

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The war in Ukraine is causing the loss of precious, innocent lives, and stealing the energies and the potential of those who remain and those who have fled the country, all for reasons and goals that cannot withstand the trials of decency and conscience.

Such acts are neither justifiable nor forgivable.

I stand in concert with my friends and colleagues in the international community in condemning this extreme act of human greed, aggression, and destruction, and calling for an immediate ceasefire.

In the meantime, my heart goes out to the people of Ukraine in their time of trial.

Midori has been invited by the Harvard Radcliffe Institute to give the Kim and Judy Davis Dean’s Lecture in the Humanities

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She will speak about non-profit leadership and volunteering

The lecture will be delivered online on Zoom – Free registration.

Date: Thursday, February 3, 2022
Time: 4 p.m. Eastern Time (U.S. and Canada)
Click here to register

A Greeting from Midori

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Dear Friends,

The Year 2021 is coming to close. About this time last year, I was hoping we would be able to put the pandemic and its atrocities behind us in the forthcoming months and be able to find a new “norm”. As we have discovered, it was not so simple.

The last twelve months have given me much time to reflect, contemplate, and question who we are as people. We have been given opportunities to consider the choices we make while facing the fact that we are not invincible.

Sometimes we both overestimate and underestimate others and ourselves. We can fail to be thankful for what we have been given, and even assail or destroy these “gifts”. Resilience and vulnerability co-exist.

In 2022 I commemorate the 40th anniversary of my debut, as well as milestone anniversaries for three of my organizations: Midori & Friends, MUSIC SHARING, and Partners in Performance. Through all the various related activities, I hope to demonstrate and share what I have learned.

Midori

 

 

Midori to give world premiere of Detlev Glanert’s Violin Concerto No. 2 (To the Immortal Beloved)

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Detlev Glanert (Photo: Bettina Stöss)

The original plan was for Midori to give the premiere of Detlev Glanert’s new Violin Concerto No 2 (To the Immortal Beloved) alongside Beethoven’s violin concerto as part of her 2020/2021 Residency with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO). Needless-to-say, Covid-19 put paid to that plan.

Written for Midori, the concerto, a four-way commission among the RSNO, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester (Hamburg), Suntory Hall (Tokyo) and the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic, will finally be unveiled in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Hamburg in November and December 2021.

The RSNO performances will take place on November 5 and 6 in Edinburgh and Glasgow respectively, conducted by the orchestra’s music director Thomas Søndergård, and will also be available online from November 6. The Elbphilharmonie performance on December 10 will be conducted by Brad Lubman. Performances in Tokyo and Istanbul also had to be rescheduled and will follow in future seasons.

The subtitle of Detlev’s concerto, An die Unsterbliche Geliebte (To the Immortal Beloved), refers to the famous love letter that Beethoven wrote in 1812. The unsent letter, found in the composer’s papers upon his death, has caused speculation ever since as to the identity of ‘the Immortal Beloved’.

Midori had “asked Glanert to make a connection with the Beethoven concerto, as I wanted the possibility of including both in the same programme but didn’t specify what that should be.”

Glanert describes his new concerto as a ‘musical translation’ of the form and emotional currents of Beethoven’s famous letter. His scoring also replicates that of Beethoven’s concerto. In Midori’s words, the resulting work is “incredibly beautiful, very lyrical, full of drama and tension building.”

 

Midori Spotlight Program produced by Washington Performing Arts

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“Perhaps no other artist of our time has had a more profound impact
on the development of string musicians and audiences throughout the world.
Her supreme musicianship, inspirational commitment to excellence, and
tireless advocacy for her chosen art form make this
a must-see experience for all music lovers.”

Douglas H. Wheeler, Washington Performing Arts President Emeritus

 

Washington Performing Arts (WPA) recently produced a Spotlight program showcasing Midori as performer and teacher and highlighting her Partners in Performance (PiP) organization with a panel discussion. Midori was named a recipient of WPA’s 2020 Ambassador of the Arts Award in recognition of extraordinary achievement, service, and advocacy in the performing arts.

Please click here for more information about Washington Performing Arts and the Ambassador of the Arts Award.

Click here to watch the program.

 

Master Classes in Weimar 2021

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Midori will once again teach a group of young people in Weimar at this year’s master classes. The 61st edition of the Weimar master classes will take place between 23 and 31 July 2021 at the Hochschule Für Musik FRANZ LISZT and will include individual lessons, orchestra studio and participant concerts at the end of the course.

Conversation with Midori, Joyce DiDonato and Wynton Marsalis on what music can teach us about peaceful communication

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In response to race-based hatred and recent acts of violence across the United States, The Peace Studio created a conversation series in which renowned thought-leaders, artists, journalists, and others can discuss the steps needed to begin building a culture that values peace and civility.

MSNBC Correspondent Trymaine Lee hosts a discussion with Midori, DiDonato and Marsalis as one of these “Conversations That #OfferPeace: Building Peace Through Music”.

The artists discuss where they see their work as musicians intersecting with the notion of being peacebuilders, collaboration and communication and how to empower young people.

The conversation will be available on AllArts TV and will stream live on NowThis News at 7 p.m. EST on June 28th.