Partners in Performance
Partners in Performance (PiP) was founded with the monetary award that Midori received as part of the coveted Avery Fisher Prize in 2001. Initiated in the wake of Arts Council funding cutbacks across the United States, PiP aims to stimulate local interest in classical music, specifically in smaller outlying communities without the financial resources of major urban centers, and to support classical music presenters in these communities by offering affordable concerts by major artists. Through PiP, high profile artists—including Midori—can donate their services for concerts to galvanize community attention and offer support to smaller-scale arts presenters.
Applications are reviewed annually by a small committee. Budget and geography factor into, but do not dictate, the selection process, as do ideas for how the applicant intends to use profits from the PiP concerts. The local presenter undertakes to pay a processing fee to PiP and to cover locally-incurred costs directly related to the presentation, such as venue and piano rental and program printing. For this one-time fee, Partners in Performance will co-sponsors two concerts at the venue in consecutive concert seasons: the first, a recital by a high-profile artist such as Midori; the second, a recital by rising young artists selected by PiP.
The presenter keeps all proceeds from ticket sales, to be used at its discretion to fund projects, programs or equipment. In addition, the presenter is strongly encouraged to apply for grants and sponsorships in connection with the PiP concerts, to stimulate further funding. An essential element of Partners in Performance is the opportunity for the artists to engage with the audience after the performance and with interested parties in the community.
Partners in Performance was incorporated in 2003 and is a 501(c)(3) federal tax-exempt organization.
Midori,
Founder and President of
Partners in Performance
Midori is a visionary artist, activist and educator who explores and builds connections between music and the human experience and breaks with traditional boundaries which makes her one of the most outstanding violinists of our time.
As a leading concert violinist for over 35 years, Midori regularly transfixes audiences around the world, bringing together graceful precision and intimate expression. She has performed with, among others, the London, Chicago, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, the Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. She has collaborated with such outstanding musicians as Claudio Abbado, Emanuel Ax, Leonard Bernstein, Constantinos Carydis, Christoph Eschenbach, Daniel Harding, Paavo Järvi, Mariss Jansons, Yo-Yo Ma, Susanna Mälkki, Joana Mallwitz, Antonello Manacorda, Zubin Mehta, Donald Runnicles, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Omer Meir Wellber.
Midori’s latest recording with the Festival Strings Lucerne of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and two Romances was released in October 2020 by Warner Classics. Her diverse discography by Sony Classical, Ondine and Onyx includes recordings of Bloch, Janáček and Shostakovich and a Grammy Award-winning recording of Hindemith’s Violin Concerto with Christoph Eschenbach conducting the NDR Symphony Orchestra as well as Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin filmed at Köthen Castle, which was also recorded for DVD (Accentus).
In 2021 she will be honored at the 43rd annual Kennedy Center Honors by the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in recognition of lifetime artistic achievement.
Midori is deeply committed to furthering humanitarian and educational goals. She has founded and manages several non-profit organizations, including Midori & Friends, which provides music programs for New York City youth and communities, and MUSIC SHARING, a Japan-based foundation that brings both western classical and Japanese music traditions into young lives by presenting programs in schools, institutions, and hospitals. In recognition of such commitments, she serves as a United Nations Messenger of Peace.
Midori was born in Osaka in 1971 and began her violin studies with her mother, Setsu Goto at an early age. In 1982, conductor Zubin Mehta invited the then 11-year-old Midori to perform with the New York Philharmonic in the orchestra’s annual New Year’s Eve concert, where the foundation was laid for her following career.
Midori plays the 1734 Guarnerius del Gesù ‘ex-Huberman.’ She uses four bows – two by Dominique Peccatte, one by François Peccatte and one by Paul Siefried.
Midori’s Official Website: midori-violin.com
Midori’s Official Facebook Page: facebook.com/GoToMidori/