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Reiko Otani (violinist) - biography
Japanese violinist, Reiko Otani studied at the Toho-Gakuen School of Music
in Tokyo with Toshiya Eto and Koichiro Harada, graduating in 1995, and
completed her advanced studies there in 1997. Since 1996, she has been a student of Igor Oistrakh at the Royal Music
Conservatory in Brussels with a grant from the Japanese government. There,
she received the highest Masters degree with "greatest distinction"
in 1998.
In 1996, Miss Otani won top prize at the Henryk Wieniawski International
Violin Competition inPoznan,Poland, as well as special prizes for best
performance of a Wieniawski Concerto, best performance of a Sonata, and
best performance of a Wieniawski Polonaise. Among other prestigious prizes,
she has won 1st prize at the Japan Music Competition in 1993, and is a
laureate of many of the most prestigious international competitions such
as Spohr (Freiburg, Germany), Japan International (Tokyo), Queen Elisabeth
(Brussels),Hannover (Germany) and Sibelius (Helsinki, Finland).
Reiko Otani performs frequently as soloist and chamber musician
in Japan and abroad. Performing extensively in
her native country, she has performed as a soloist with many orchestras such as
Tokyo Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, Japan Philharmonic, Kansai Philharmonic, and
Kyoto Symphony. In addition to concerts, she has also performed in many radio and television
broadcasts in Japan, performing on radio programs such as NHK-FM Recital.
She has also invited to perform at many festivals including; festivals
in Kurashiki, Kirishima, Miyazaki, Tokyo(International Hindemith Festival),
Moonbeach and Saito-Kinen. In addition, she has had the honor of performing
for the Japanese Imperial Family at Tokagakudo Hall in the Imperial Palace.
Miss Otani's international career has led her to perform extensively in
Europe as well. Ever since her sensational
debut in Warsaw, Poland, in November of 1996, she has made numerous tours of
Poland, performing with most major Polish orchestras as well as giving recitals,
including performances with the Sinfonia Varsovia under the direction of the
late Sir Yehudi Menuhin and recital at the International Chopin Festival in
Duszniki. Her performances have been
broadcast on national Polish television and radio as well. In 1999, she won the concerto competition at the International Salzburg
Summer Academy, and performed Mozart's Violin Concerto K. 219 with the
Camerata Lysy under the auspices of the prestigious Salzburg Music Festival. In 2000, under the baton of Philippe Entremont, she performed Tchaikovsky's
Violin Concerto with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra in the main hall
of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.In the United States, she was invited to
perform at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and La Jolla Summerfest.
Her performance of Berg’s Violin Concerto with the Kansai Philharmonic
in Osaka under the baton of Tetsuro Ban in June 2001 was hailed as "a
spectacular performance that melted away any resistance one might have
had toward modern music." (Ongaku Gendai Magazine). This success has led to numerous concert engagements as a soloist with
orchestras in Japan, including the performance of Brahms’ concerto under
the baton of Tetsuro Ban with Kansai Philharmonic in 2002. In 2001, she
founded Piano Quartet “Opus 1”, and made their sensational debut concerts
in Tokyo and Osaka in 2002.
In 2002, Miss Otani was awarded three awards for her active and high-leveled concert performances; the “Music Critic Club Award” presented by music critics in Japan, “Sakuya Konohana Prize” presented by the city of Osaka as the most promising young artist, and “ABC Music Award – Crystal Prize” from ABC Music Foundation.
In 2004, she held a recital of Ysaye’s Six Solo Sonatas in Osaka which
was chosen as “best 10 concerts in Japan 2004” in the “Ongaku-no-tomo”
magazine. In 2005, she performed Mozart’s Concertos Nos. 4 and 5 with the
Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra of Hungary She was heard at the Subscription
concerts of the Tokyo City Philharmonic (Sibelius’ Concerto) and the Osaka
Century Orchestra (Tchaikovsky’s Concerto), and also with the Osaka Sinfoniker,
the Kansai Philharmonic, the Kyoto Philharmonic and the Osaka Philharmonic
Orchestras. Her piano quartet “Opus 1” was invited to play in the “B to C (Bach to
Contemporary)” concert series at the Tokyo Opera City Hall.
In 2006, she performed as a soloist at “NHK-FM symphony concert” with
the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the subscription concert of the Kansai
Philharmonic, and also with the Sendai Philharmonic. As a chamber musician,
her newly founded piano quintet “Ensemble Premier” with Walter Kussner,
a violist of the Berlin Philharmonic, had a concert in Osaka.
She is a member of the Saito-Kinen Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa,
and appears the Saito-Kinen Festival in Matsumoto for one month every summer
since 2001. In 2004, she participated in the European Tour of the Saito-Kinen
Orchestra, and performed in the prestigious concert halls in the six countries
such as Berlin Philharmonic Hall and Musikferein in Vienna. She is also
a member of Izumi Sinfonietta Osaka.
Currently she is on the faculty of the Kyoto City University of Arts
and the Soai University in Osaka.
(August, 2006)
Please also visit Reiko's manegement site: Kojima Concert Management
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