Midori is a visionary artist, activist and educator who explores and builds connections between music and the human experience and breaks traditional boundaries.

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 including the London, Chicago, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, the Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Festival Strings Lucerne. She has collaborated with such outstanding musicians as Claudio Abbado, Emanuel Ax, Leonard Bernstein, Jonathan Biss, Christoph Eschenbach, Daniel Harding, Paavo Järvi, Andris Nelsons, Mariss Jansons, Yo-Yo Ma, Susanna Mälkki, Joana Mallwitz, Zubin Mehta, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Omer Meir Wellber.

In her 2025/2026 season Midori performs Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Estonian Festival Orchestra, both under Paavo Järvi, at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Zürich Tonhalle, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and New York Carnegie Hall. She returns to Carnegie Hall later in the season for Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s under Masaaki Suzuki. Other highlights  include performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Nodoka Okisawa, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Alexander Shelley and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony under Michael Sanderling as well as concerto and recital appearances across North and South America and Asia. At Williams College in Massachusetts, she gives the world premiere of Resonances of Spirit, for violin and electronics, written for her by the young New York-based violinist and composer Che Buford.

Midori’s diverse discography includes the Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and two Romances with Festival Strings Lucerne on Warner Classics. Recordings on Sony Classical, Ondine and Onyx include  music of Bloch, Janáček and Shostakovich and a Grammy-Award-winning recording of Hindemith’s Violin Concerto with Christoph Eschenbach conducting the NDR Symphony Orchestra as well as Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin filmed at Köthen Castle for Accentus. Marking the 40th anniversary of her professional debut, Warner Classics released the complete set of Beethoven’s violin sonatas with Jean-Yves Thibaudet. In Spring 2026, Pentatone will release a recording of works by Robert and Clara Schumann.

Deeply committed to furthering humanitarian and educational goals, Midori has founded several non-profit organizations: Midori & Friends offers accessible, tuition-free music education programs to students in  New York City; based in Japan, MUSIC SHARING brings western classical and Japanese music traditions to young people in Japan and developing Asian countries; her Orchestra Residencies Program (ORP) supports youth orchestras primarily in the United States; through Partners in Performance (PiP), Midori co-presents chamber music concerts around the U.S., focusing on smaller communities outside the radius of major urban centres and with limited resources.

Midori has received many awards and honors throughout her career. In 2007, in recognition of her work as an artist and humanitarian, she was appointed a United Nations Messenger of Peace. In 2020, she was awarded the Brahms Prize by the Schleswig-Holstein Brahms Society. The following year, she received the Asian Cultural Council’s John D. Rockefeller 3rd Award for her contributions to the field of arts and cultural exchange and was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in recognition of her lifetime of contributions to American culture. In autumn of 2025, Midori will receive the Pablo Casals Award at the Kronberg Festival in recognition of her commitment to social and educational projects.

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 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 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. She recently joined the faculty of the Juilliard School and is Artistic Director of Ravinia Steans Music Institute’s Piano & Strings program.

Midori plays the 1734 Guarnerius del Gesù ‘ex-Huberman’. She uses four bows – two by Dominique Peccatte, one by François Peccatte and one by Paul Siefried.

North American Representation

Kirshbaum Associates Inc.
307 Seventh Avenue - Suite 506
New York, NY 10001 
www.kirshbaumassociates.com

Midori's recordings are available on Warner Claxtos, Sony Classical, Sony Japan, Onyx Classics, and Accentus Music.