Mayumi Kanagawa
Mayumi Kanagawa (1994) is a Berlin based, Japanese-American violinist praised for her rich, dark sound and focused, engaging musicality. Gold medalist of the 2024 George Enescu competition as well as prizewinner at the 2019 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and silver medalist at the 2018 Long-Thibaud Crespin competition in Paris, she is establishing herself as a versatile and refined soloist and chamber musician.
The 2024-25 season brings re-invitations from orchestras such as the Tokyo Metropolitan, Hiroshima and Maidstone Symphony Orchestras, Orchestre de Pau Pays de Bearn as well as debuts with Ensemble Kanazawa, with conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, Elias Grandy, and Nodoka Okisawa. Recital and chamber music concerts with colleagues including Giuseppe Guarerra, Yu Kosuge, Ben Goldscheider, and the Tonhain Kollektiv bring her throughout Europe and Japan.
Her debut CD “Recital” with pianist Giuseppe Guarrera was released in Japan in February 2023 to wide critical acclaim, and in 2024 she received the “Fresh Artist” award from Nippon Steel.
Mayumi has performed with many orchestras including the Mariinsky Orchestra, Belgian National Symphony, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others, in repertoire ranging from Bach to Britten and Berg. Her unique talent for communicating the love and joy of music making in varied repertoire and venues has also brought her to many outreach programs and schools around the world, from San Francisco to Novosibirsk. She is currently an ambassador for El Sistema Japan’s new “Ribbon” project, bringing instruments and music education to children in the foster care system. Since October 2023 she is also teaching at the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen.
Mayumi’s musical education has been shaped by Kolja Blacher, Yoshiko Nakura, Masao Kawasaki, and Robert Lipsett.
She currently performs on the “Wilhelmj” Antonio Stradivarius violin from 1725, on generous loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.