Akiko Suwanai

Violin

Youngest ever winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition, violinist Akiko Suwanai has established a prolific and prestigious international career as soloist and recitalist.

She has collaborated with renowned conductors, including Eliahu Inbal, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, and Seiji Ozawa. Miss Suwanai gave the Asian premiere of Penderecki's second Violin Concerto under his baton, subsequently performed the work in Europe including – at his invitation – Penderecki’s 70th birthday celebrations at the Teatro Colon.

Akiko Suwanai is renowned for her live performances – her fusing of stunning virtuosity with such engaging warmth is a rare treat from the stage today. She is a frequent visitor to North America where she has had acclaimed performances orchestras from coast to coast, including the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, Boston Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, Minnesota and Cincinnati Symphonies.

A regular guest performer at festivals around the world, 2005 sees Miss Suwanai at Schleswig Holstein, Verbier, Crea Nantes and Macau festivals. She has recently performed at the Evian Festival at the invitation of Rostropovich, as well as the Ravinia, Lockenhaus, Marlboro, Lucerne, Rheingau and Berlin Festivals. Recent concerto appearances include the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra under Charles Dutoit in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Mumbai; the Berg Violin Concerto at the Lucerne Easter Festival with the Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester under Pierre Boulez; and a return visit and European tour with Sakari Oramo and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to many return visits to orchestras around the world, future highlights for Miss Suwanai include tours with the Orchestre National de Belgique and Mikko Franck (Switzlerland); Estonia with the Luxemburg Philharmonic under Emanuel Krivine; and Japan twice, with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Akiko Suwanai has an exclusive recording contract with Universal and her seven releases to date have garnered much critical acclaim. Releases include Bruch with the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields under Neville Marriner, Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn concertos with the Czech Philharmonic and Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Takemitsu's Far Calls, Coming Far with NHK Symphony Orchestra. Her most recent recording, of French repertoire with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Charles Dutoit, was released in 2004.

The recipient of numerous awards, Akiko Suwanai has been a winner at the International Paganini Competition, Italy, the International Japan Competition and the Queen Elisabeth International Competition, Belgium, at which she was the youngest entrant. She studied at the Toho Gakuen School of Music with Toshiya Eto and subsequently at Columbia University and the Juilliard School of Music with Dorothy DeLay and Cho-Liang Lin and also at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin with Uwe-Martin Haiberg.

Akiko Suwanai performs on the Antonio Stradivarius 1714 violin ‘Dolphin’, one of the most famous violins known today and previously owned by the celebrated violinist Jascha Heifetz. The ‘Dolphin’ violin is on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.