Biography

Born into a music-filled household (my mother is a pianist), I began to learn the violin at age five. At first though, my musical journey was not driven by some noble artistic awakening, but rather by the fear that my Nintendo DS would be destroyed if I didn’t practise. All jokes aside, soon enough I grew to love the violin, graduating from the high school affiliated with Tokyo College of Music. During my time there, I managed to place in numerous competitions and I then went on to complete my undergraduate degree at Tokyo College of Music itself.

I was lucky enough to be selected by Tokyo College of Music for an exchange place at Guildhall School of Music & Drama. It was my first time studying abroad and my first time in London! While I was there, the faculty very kindly suggested to me that I should audition for their Master’s programme, and before I knew it, I would be returning to London the following year to continue my studies at Guildhall.

Since coming to the UK I’ve had the chance to meet many lovely musicians and to play in many ensembles. I’ve also slowly been able to find more freelance work as a musician working with various orchestras, which has been exciting – my hope is to be able to secure a seat in one of the UK’s top orchestras someday! Recently, I played with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and we performed a piece by a composer I’d never heard of before: Amen by Carlos Simon. It was really complicated – lots of chromatic runs, difficult rhythms, and tricky to put together – but it was my first time playing a contemporary piece in a professional orchestra and the process of putting it all together was really enjoyable!

Apart from music, I like eating interesting and fancy food (when I can afford it). I also have a dog, Buri – short for the musical marking “brillante,” who I’m always happy to see when I go back to Japan.