She is a violinist born in Tokyo, Japan who started to learn the violin when she was five years old. She was the winner of a competition when she was nine years old and part of the prize entailed her giving a command performance for Imelda Marcos in the Philippines and touring as a soloist in Asia.
When she was 12 years old she was given an invitation to take studies at Meadowmount in New York and when she was 13 she entered the Curtis Institute of Music as a full-time student.
During her time at the Curtis Institute she was a substitute performer with the Philadelphia Orchestra and after winning its annual concerto competition as a young artist, which she won twice, gave her solo debut.
She became a full-time member of the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1995 and has performed as chamber musician and a soloist both in the United States and Japan.
Recordings she has performed on include Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 “Pathetique”/Dunka and Dmitri Shostakovih: Symphony No. 5 with the Philadelphia Orchestra. She has also been a violinist in the soundtrack of the 2002 TV movie documentary Thomas Eakins: Scene from Modern Life.
In the field of musical education she has run her own private studio for students over the last two decades with many of them going on to have successful careers.
She performs here…
Sources:
- https://www.philorch.org/your-philorch/meet-your-orchestra/musicians/yayoi-numazawa/
- https://thesunpapers.com/2016/11/11/the-evergreens-welcomed-violinists-yayoi-numazawa-and-hirono-oka-from-the-philadelphia-orchestra/
- https://www.saintfrancisdesales.net/a-neighborhood-chamber-concert-with-the-philadelphia-orchestra/
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/4625605-Yayoi-Numazawa
- https://www.chandos.net/chanimages/Booklets/OD1109.pdf
- https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2475114/