Mayumi Kanagawa is a Berlin based, Japanese-American violinist praised for her rich, dark sound and focused, engaging musicality. Prizewinner at the 2019 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and 2018 Long-Thibaud Crespin competition in Paris as well as First Prize winner of the Princess Astrid, Jascha Heifetz, and Irvin Klein competitions, she is establishing herself as a versatile and refined soloist and chamber musician. 

 

The 2023-24 season brings re-invitations from orchestras such as the NHK, Yomiuri, Tokyo Metropolitan and Sapporo Symphony Orchestras as well as debuts with the Gunma and Macau Symphony Orchestras, with conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Marc Piollet, Sylvain Cambreling, Yoel Levi, Nodoka Okisawa, and Kazuihro Koizumi. Recital and chamber music concerts with colleagues including Giuseppe Guarerra, Yu Kosuge,  Ben Goldscheider and the Lazarus String Quartet bring her to Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Luxembourg and Japan. 

 

Her debut CD “Recital” with pianist Giuseppe Guarrera was released in Japan in February 2023 to wide critical acclaim, and in 2024 she received the “Fresh Artist” award from Nippon Steel. 

 

Mayumi has performed with many orchestras including the Mariinsky Orchestra, Belgian National Symphony, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others, in repertoire ranging from Bach to  Britten and Berg. Her unique talent for communicating the love and joy of music making in varied repertoire and venues has also brought her to many outreach programs and schools around the world, from San Francisco to Novosibirsk. She is currently an ambassador for El Sistema  Japan’s new “Ribbon” project, bringing instruments and music education to children in the foster care system. Since October 2023 she is also teaching at the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen.

 

Mayumi's musical education has been shaped by Kolja Blacher, Yoshiko Nakura, Masao Kawasaki, and Robert Lipsett. 

 

She currently performs on the “Wilhelmj” Antonio Stradivarius violin from 1725, on generous loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.