Featured Performers

• Midori, violin

Program

• J.S. BACH: Sonata No. 2 for Solo Violin in A minor, BWV 1003
  
• Thierry ESCAICH:  Nun komm
• J.S. BACH: Sonata No. 3 for Solo Violin in C major, BWV 1005
• John ZORN: Passagen
  
• J.S. BACH: Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004

Pre-concert lecture by Classical California KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen at 2pm

Violinist Midori commemorates the 40th anniversary of her legendary New York Philharmonic debut with Zubin Mehta in 1982 with a program bookeneded by works by Bach. Hailed as one of the violin’s most “intense, assured and polished” (The Washington Times) performers, Midori is a visionary artist, activist, and educator whose 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 dedicated music educator. In recognition of her work as an artist and humanitarian, she serves as a United Nations Messenger of Peace, and is the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors.

Midori was born in Osaka in 1971 and began her violin studies with her mother, Setsu Goto, 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, where the foundation was laid for her following career. Midori is the Dorothy Richard Starling Chair in Violin Studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and is a Distinguished Visiting Artist at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.