Biography

MATSUYAMA Saeka

Saeka MATSUYAMA is in demand as a soloist, having already performed in four continents, for orchestral engagements, recitals, chamber music, and festival appearances. Her concert schedule for 2005-2006 season includes a Northern Japan Tour with the Tokyo Philharmonie Orchestra, where she performed Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in Iwate, Aomori and Fukushima. In 2006, she has been invited back to perform with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, presenting Brahms Concerto in Tokyo and Chiba. Ms. MATSUYAMA is also set to perform with Cappella Istropolitana in Zurich, Switzerland, as well as in Coruna, Spain. Most recently, she has been chosen as a winner of Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra Soloist Auditions and will be a featured soloist on the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra's 2006-2007 subscription series. She has worked with most major orchestras in Japan, such as Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Osaka Century Orchestra, Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra and Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra. Among others are Belgian National Orchestra and orchestras in Argentina, Germany, Spain, Japan, and USA. She also recently completed a recital tour in Belgium where she was invited to play in Brussels, Louvain-la-Neuve, and Leuven. Ms. MATSUYAMA has been heard on WQXR-FM in New York City, and also featured in the Strad Magazine, the String and Ongaku no Tomo.

Ms. MATSUYAMA has been successful in numerous prestigious competitions: Fourth Prize in Queen Elizabeth International Violin Competition (2005); First and Audience Prizes in Sendai International Music Competition (2004); Second Prize in Hannover International Violin Competition (2003); Grand Prize in the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Competition (2000); Second and the Orchestra Prizes in the Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition (1999); First Prize at the Kobe Newspaper - Matsukata Hall Competition (1998), Second and Tchaikovsky Prizes in the 2nd Tchaikovsky International Competition for Young Musicians (1995); and First Prizes in the Juilliard Pre-College Competitions (1998, 1995, and 1992). The Juilliard School also awarded Ms. MATSUYAMA several scholarships and achievement awards throughout the years she attended the school, including the Dorothy DeLay Scholarship, Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship, Teplitsky Memorial Scholarship, Jean Doyle Loomis Scholarship, and a Senior Achievement Award.

Ms. MATSUYAMA has participated in internationally renowned summer festivals, including: Music Masters Course in Kazusa, Chiba, Japan; Marlboro Music Festival; Schleswig-Holstein Music Academy (Concertmaster); Tanglewood Music Festival; Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy; Encore School for Strings; Aspen Music Festival; and Meadowmount.

Ms. MATSUYAMA was born in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo, Japan. She started her violin lessons at age two. Soon after her arrival in New York at the age of nine, she continued her violin studies at the Juilliard Pre-College with Dorothy DeLay and Robert Chen. She received Bachelors (2003) and Masters of Music (2005) from the Juilliard School studying under Glenn Dicterow, Ronald Copes, and Michael Gilbert. Currently Ms. MATSUYAMA is an Artist Diploma candidate at the Juilliard School, where she continues her studies with Donald Weilerstein, Ronald Copes and Michael Gilbert. She is also a Teaching Assistant at the Juilliard School for Ronald Copes, and is actively teaching masterclasses and private lessons in Japan, US and Spain.

In 1999, Bridge Records released Ms. MATSUYAMA's first recording, a live performance of the Carl Nielsen Violin Concerto.