Midori is a visionary artist, activist and educator who explores and builds connections between music and the human experience. In the four decades since her debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 11, she has performed with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras and has collaborated with world-renowned musicians including Isaac Stern, Leonard Bernstein, Yo-Yo Ma, and many others.
In the 2026-27 season, Midori debuts a new work by Thierry Escaich on U.S. recital tours in February (Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York) and April (Palm Springs, CA and Troy, NY). She performs Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn on an eight-city coast-to-coast U.S. tour with Festival Strings Lucerne in February, and the Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1 with both the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra and the Portland (Maine) Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to her U.S. appearances, Midori’s European engagements include the world premiere of a new concerto for two violins by Detlev Glanert with the Gewandhaus Orchestra, with Semyon Bychkov, conductor, and Renaud Capuçon, violin; performances of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in Holland and Belgium with the Bamberg Symphony under Manfred Honeck; a recital at Wigmore Hall; and the world premiere of the Escaich work at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in August. She also appears with the Orchestre de Paris and tours with Kremerata Baltica, performing a new two-violin work with violinist Gidon Kremer in honor of his 80th birthday, written for them by three Baltic composers. In Asia, she performs in a theatrical multimedia project in January as part of Suntory Hall’s 40th Anniversary.
Her latest album, Schumann: Violin Concerto & Works for Violin and Piano by Clara and Robert Schumann, with Festival Strings Lucerne and Özgür Aydin, was released on Pentatone in March 2026. In August, Orchid Classics releases a digital EP with the world premiere recording of Derek Bermel’s Spring Cadenzas, written for Midori’s Orchestra Residencies Program.
Deeply committed to furthering humanitarian and educational goals, Midori has founded several non-profit organizations. The New York City-based Midori & Friends, active for over three decades, offers accessible, tuition-free music education programs to students in NYC. Based in Japan, MUSIC SHARING brings both Western classical and traditional Japanese music to young people throughout Japan and developing areas of Asia; the organization’s International Community Engagement Program (ICEP) program traveled to Cambodia and Japan last season. The Orchestra Residencies Program (ORP) supports youth orchestras around the country. Midori’s Partners in Performance (PiP) helps to bring chamber music to smaller communities in the U.S. In recognition of her work as an artist and humanitarian, she serves as a United Nations Messenger of Peace, and was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2021.
Born in Osaka in 1971, she 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 subsequent career. Midori joined the faculty of the Juilliard School in 2025. She is Artistic Director of Ravinia Steans Music Institute’s Piano & Strings program. She previously served as the Jascha Heifetz Chair in Violin at USC Thornton School of Music. She is the recipient of honorary doctorates from Smith College, Yale University, Longy School of Music and Shenandoah University, and of the 2023 Brandeis Creative Arts Award from Brandeis University.
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JULY 2026 - PLEASE DESTROY ALL PREVIOUSLY DATED MATERIALS