At what age did you begin playing a musical instrument?
A bit before I was 4 years old

At what age did you understand that you wish to pursue a musical career?
At age 13. Before I recognized that playing music was essential for me, I stopped playing the violin for two months because I wanted to concentrate on studying at school. But after a few weeks I got a little depressed, unknown sad feeling… it felt like a thick fog in my mind the entire time I didn’t touch my violin. Once I started playing again, it was shocking for me as a young girl, how much I needed and wanted to play. This experience made me realize that I must continue playing for the rest of my life.

What do you love to do off-stage?
Cooking, gardening, reading and going to beach.

What is the special significance of the IPO to you/Why did you want to be part of the IPO?
One day when I was watching a performance of the IPO on TV with my parents, my mom told me that she couldn’t go to a concert in 1982. It was cancelled because of the Lebanon war, and the IPO couldn’t come to Japan. When I heard it as a small child, I understood that the IPO is in a place which has a complicated situation with its neighbors, a kind of life which I haven’t seen or experienced yet. But I thought that probably this is the reason why the IPO has a deep powerful sound, and at the same time beautiful as well, which I always felt from its recordings. My parents love classical music, and growing up I listened and learned a lot from the IPO’s recordings.
I am so lucky to play in the IPO. There is so much to learn about from my colleagues, not only musically, but also about their interesting history. As well as brilliant conductors and soloists always teach me so much.

How can we keep classical music and live performances relevant in the digital era?
Today, digital concerts became more popular as recording technology developed. We cannot really compare live and digital concerts, but they each have a lot of advantages for the audience. As musicians, we want the audience to have a specific atmosphere, with real sounds, all the elements that exist only in live performances. But digital concerts might have some other opportunities to listen more easily to classical music, especially for those who aren’t familiar with. I would be glad if more people become interested in classical music through digital performances on Facebook or YouTube. In my opinion, once people fall in love with classical music, they will come to live performances and will love it even more.