Yuzuko HORIGOME

Born in Tokyo, Yuzuko Horigome began playing the piano at the tender age of 4 and took up violin at the age of 5. Her first violin teacher was Ryosaku Kubota, after which she further developed her talent under the expert tutorship of Toshiya Eto, at the Toho Gakuen Academy.

In 1980, Horigome won the First Great Prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, heralding the beginning of a hugely successful international career. Since then she has toured the world playing under the direction of such musical luminaries as Erich Leinsdorf, Sándor Végh, Herbert Blomstedt, André Prévin, Claudio Abbado, Seiji Ozawa, Iván Fischer, Riccardo Chailly, Simon Rattle and many others.

She has also appeared as a soloist with the world’s greatest orchestras, including such the London Symphony, Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Symphoniker, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Scala di Milano, Czech Philharmonic, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Camerata Salzburg, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, New Japan, NHK Symphony, among others.

Horigome is a passionate player of chamber music and a frequent guest at high profile festivals including Marlboro Music, Lockenhaus, Tanglewood and La Jolla. She has been fortunate to share this love of chamber music with exceptional artists like Rudolf Serkin, János Starker, Martha Argerich, Nobuko Imai, Gidon Kremer, Mischa Maisky, Charles Neidich, Jean-Marc Luisada, and Abdel Rahman El Bacha.

In 1990, she formed the ‘Casals Hall Quartet’ together with other world renowned artists - Nobuko Imai, Thomas Zehetmair and afterwards Pamela Franck and Antonio Meneses. The Quartet was later honored with an invitation to become the ‘resident Quartet’ at the Casals Hall, Tokyo. Achieving much critical acclaim by both the mainstream and music press, the Quartet has already completed six tours in Japan. During 2004 and 2005 Horigome shared a concert with Martha Argerich at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, who in turn invited Horigome to tour with her in Argentina, and later in Lugano, Switzerland.

And of course Horigome’s ability to give expression to the unparalleled genius of music’s greatest-ever composers is without exception. Horigome toured Japan between 2003 and 2006, performing complete sonatas of Mozart, with the pianist Momo Kodama. From 2008 until 2010, she joined Abdel Rahman El Bacha on another tour of both Japan and Europe to perform the complete sonatas of Beethoven. And in February 2008 she recorded three concertos by Lalo, with Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, conducted by Marco Guidarini.

Her work has been recorded on live TV and DVD – notably her performance with the Messiaen’s ‘Quaruor pour la Fin du temps’ with the clarinetist Charles Neidich, in 2008, recorded on DVD by NHK. Her tour in France and Japan with the pianist Jean-Marc Luisada was also broadcast by NHK TV.

In early 2010, she replaced a soloist who unexpectedly fell ill just before a concert with the NHK Symphony, directed by Junichi Hirokami. This performance was broadcast live by NHK and her performance so astonished critics that they unanimously lauded her as the ‘best soloist’ of the year in Japan. Indeed, a TV documentary called ‘Gifts For The Future’ on her social contribution was commissioned and broadcast by BS-TBS TV, in 2010.

Horigome has worked closely with composers such as Takemitsu, Miyoshi and Yuasa, whose violin concertos were recorded by her. Her collaboration with other Japanese composers is also noteworthy – e.g. Mochizuki, Gondai, Nodaira, Hosokawa and Okada. In fact, the latter even dedicated solo violin works to her during her project ‘Violin Works - Jojo no tabi’ which was recorded live in Tokyo and Kyoto between 2005 and 2010. In late 2013, Horigome launched a new project called ‘Bach-Brahms’ which includes famous solo sonata and partitas of J.S.Bach and Brahms. This project will run until 2016.

As commercially successful as she is recognised by her peers, Horigome has recorded under labels such as Sony, Denon, Lockenhaus Edition, Camerata Tokyo, Nami Record, Talent, Dabringhaus und Grimm, René Gailly and Pavane.

In addition to her career as a world renowned soloist and chamber music performer, Yuzuko Horigome is also currently Professor of Violin at the Dutch-speaking school of Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel, where her unique ability to expertly accompany her students at the piano is widely recognized as exceptional. In fact, her talent as a gifted teacher has led her to give numerous master classes in California, Japan, France, Belgium, Denmark, England and Italy.

Always willing to give back to the musical community – Horigome accepts requests, whenever possible, to join international juries at competitions like the Queen Elisabeth in Belgium, Sendai in Japan, Indianapolis in the United States or Montreal in Canada.

Masterclass at Paris conservatory, Cambridge Trinity College , Horigome in Italy Marche. From September 2015 Professor at Maastricht university Music department, 2016 Chairperson of Violin section at Sendai International Music Competition.

www.yuzuviolin.com