WELCOME TO MAYU KISHIMA'S WEB SITE!
Has won a large number of prizes in her as of yet short career. In 2000, set the music world abuzz by taking top honors (second place with no first place awarded) at the age of 13 at the 8th Wieniawski International Competition for Young Violinists. Most recently, won the 1st prize at the Patrus International Violin Competition in 2003.
In 1998, was awarded first place at the All Japan Student Music Competition, and in 1999 top honors (second place with no first place awarded). Before this, won three gold medals at the "Kyoto Violin Competition for Children" in 1990, 1991 and 1992, respectively. In 1997 and 1998, was presented the Kobe Mayor's Award, and in 1999 the Kyoto Mayor's award at the Kyoto Arts Festival. Also in 1999, honored with the IMA Music Award at the Ishikawa Music Academy Master Classes, in 2001, and was presented with the Kobe Matsugata Hall Music Award.
Thus far, has participated and performed at the 1994 Midori Music Lecture Concert; at the 1996 and 1997 Miyazaki International Chamber Music Festival during the "Isaac Stern Master Classes", studied under Dorothy DeLay and Masao Kawasaki at the Aspen Music School in 1997, and under Prof. Lieberman of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 1998. From 1999 to 2002, attended the Yokohama Zakhar Bron Violin Seminars.
Has performed with a variety of orchestras, such as the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra, Turkey's Izmir Symphony Orchestra at their subscription concert in 1999, and the Gumma Junior Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Recently, Kishima performed with the Prague Philharmonia under the direction of Jiri Belohlavek, and with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra under Ken-ichiro Kobayashi in March 2004 with great success. She also performed in Moscow, St. Petersburg. Prague, Cologne, Vienna and other major cities in Europe as well as Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, and other large Japanese cities.
In the future, Kishima is scheduled to appear at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in August 2004. In 2005, in addition to concerts with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nationale di Santa Cecilia in February, the National Symphony in Washington D.C. in May, London Symphony Orchestra in June, and Bayerisch Radio Symphony Orchestra in July, all under the baton of Maestro Mstislav Rostropovich, a number of recitals have been slated throughout Japan.
At the strong recommendation of Vladimir Ashkenazy, who assumed the post of the music director of the NHK Symphony Orchestra in 2004, she recorded Tzigane in a collection of orchestral music by Ravel. This was the first recording by Vladimir Ashkenazy and the NHK Symphony Orchestra, released by Octavia Records on November 19, 2003.
Received instruction from Izumi Hayashi, Kazuyo Togami, and Eto Toshiya. At present, studying under Machie Oguri and Chihiro Kudo, while also enrolled in the Hochschule fur Musik in Cologne under Zakhar Bron.
In 2002, she received a fellowship for study abroad from the Ministry of Culture of Japan.
(August 2004)