Part of the continuing AJSW classical music concert series promoting and supporting Japanese musicians drawn from a variety of environments be they professional, students, visiting or home based. It is also included in St Dunstan’s August Classical Music Festival.

 

Admission Free

 

Aiki Mori (violin) Asa Mori (piano)

9 February 2011, 1:15 to 2:00pm at St. Dunstan-In-The-West

Born in Japan in 1988. Aiki Mori started to play piano at the age of 6. At the age of 8, She decided to play cello, and had her first cello　lesson with Hakuro Mohri. A few years later, she won the first prize and the grand prix in “classic music, Japan” competition, as the youngest cellist in the competitions history. And also in “stars of tomorrow” competition, she won the prize as the youngest cellist. After her success in the competitions, she was invited to various concerts, including the concert in Ooji Hall, Tokyo, and also TV and radio appearances. She enjoys playing chamber music, and she was invited to play with a member of NHK symphony orchestra in Japan, and also invited to a retirement concert from York Hoeller in Germany. In 2009, Aiki has graduated from “Musikhochschule Cologne” and she continues her studies with Karine Georgian in London.

Asa Mori began her piano playing at the age of 6. In the following year, she won the first prize in a national competition. And later, she won numerous of prizes in many national, and international competitions, including “Nagoya International Music Competition” and “Prix d’amadeo Jeunesse”. As a soloist, she made a debut with the Krakower Chamber Philharmonic orchestra. In 2002, she moved to Germany to study where she graduated in 2008. Asa appears either as a soloist or a chamber musician. Some of her performances have been recorded from SWR and WDR.

Midori Komachi (violin) Kumi Matsuo (piano)

16 February 2011, 1:15 to 2:00pm at St. Dunstan-In-The-West

Midori Komachi was born in 1988, in Japan. She began playing the violin at the age of
seven, and at the age of 12 was accepted to the Basel Music University in Switzerland to
study with Adelina Oprean. She subsequently made her debut with the Zurich Chamber
Orchestra conducted by Howard Griffiths, and since then has played as a soloist with
various orchestras.

Currently she is studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Maurice
Hasson. In 2006 she entered the Royal Academy of Music to study with Tomotada Soh,
and in June 2010 she completed her Bachelor of Music Diploma with First Class
Honours.In 2008 she was invited to the Takefu International Music Festival in Japan to
perform in a string ensemble with professors Stephan Picard, Nobuko Imai and Stephan
Forck. Midori has been awarded several prizes including Hattori Foundation Junior
Award 2007/08, Seary Trust award 2010, and she is also the laureate of competitions
such as Dame Ruth Railton Prize, Harold Craxton Prize, and the winner of the Max
Pirani Prize.

Kumi Matsuo was born in 1984 in Tokyo, Japan. She has finished the Artist Diploma
course at the Royal College of Music in 2010 and is currently on the Masters course at
the same college, studying Piano with John Blakely and Ashley Wass and Harpsichord
with Jane Chapman . In 2007, she received a Charles Napper Award and also received a
Russell Gander Award in 2009. Since September 2008 she has been generously
supported by the Rohm Music Foundation.

In December 2008, she performed Ravel’s Piano Concerto for Left hand in Cadogan
Hall with the RCM Sinfonietta conducted by Peter Stark, and in November 2009 she
performed Schnittke’s Concerto Grosso in the Queen Elizabeth Hall with the RCM
Chamber Orchestra

 

Toki Quartet

23 February 2011, 1:15 to 2:00pm at St. Dunstan-In-The-West

Aki Sawa (1st Violin) Midori Komachi (2nd Violin) Joseph Fisher (Viola) Amy Jolly (Cello)

 

The Toki Quartet was formed in 2010 by 4 prize winning musicians. After playing
together in the Royal Academy of Music Soloists, they wanted to continue on working
together. They have taken part in master-classes with such quartets as the Maggini
Quartet, Endellion Quartet and the Badke Quartet. They have also played together in
concerts with such groups as the Chilingirian Quartet and the Scottish Ensemble.