– The Independent
Since winning First Prize at the 1999 Paganini Competition – the first Japanese and youngest artist to do so – Sayaka Shoji has performed with the world's leading conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Colin Davis, Charles Dutoit, Mariss Jansons, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta and Antonio Pappano.
Recent seasons have seen Sayaka tour with the Bamberger Symphoniker under Jonathan Nott, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra with Myung-Whun Chung, WDR Sinfonieorchester with Semyon Bychkov and the St Petersburg Philharmonic under Yuri Temirkanov (with whom she enjoys a close musical relationship). Next season’s highlights include performances with the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Santa Cecilia, Tokyo Symphony, Philharmonia, and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras.
Sayaka appears regularly as a recitalist and chamber musician alongside colleagues such as Vadim Repin, Mikhail Pletnev, Lang Lang and Yefim Bronfman at festivals including Verbier, Schleswig-Holstein, Evian, the Estate Musicale del Garda, the Fêtes Musicales en Touraine, and the Folles Journées in Nantes and Tokyo.
Sayaka records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon and has already released five highly acclaimed discs for the label. Her next release will include a selection of Beethoven’s Sonatas for Violin and Piano with Gianluca Cascioli.
Sayaka performs on the 1729 Elman Stradivarius – kindly loaned by Dr. Ryuzo Ueno, Honorary Chairman, Ueno Fine Chemicals Industry, Ltd.
Biography
