Mie KobayashiMie Kobayashi

Mie Kobayashi studied at the Music High School attached to the Faculty of Music of Tokyo University of the Arts and went on to study at the same university, from which she graduated at the top of her class. She won the Ataka Prize and the Fukushima Prize while studying at the university.
She received Second Prize in the 52nd Music Competition of Japan in 1983, the Kawai Overseas Competition Award in 1984, and Second Prize as well as a prize for sonata interpretation at the Louis Spohr International Violin Competition in 1988.
In 1990, Kobayashi became the first Japanese to win the top prize in the violin division of the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud International Competition. From that point she began her professional career inside and outside Japan.
Mie Kobayashi has earned high acclaim for performances as a soloist with leading Japanese orchestras including the NHK Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, New Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, Osaka Philharmonic, and Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, as well as overseas orchestras including the Hungarian National Philharmonic and Prague Symphony. She is also active in the field of chamber music, performing with many musicians and as a member of the Shizuoka AOI Residence Quartet. She performs in numerous festivals including the Karuizawa International Music Festival, in which she appears every year.
Kobayashi has released numerous CDs, including Mie Kobayashi Plays Kreisler; Fauré and Ravel & Enesco, duo recordings with Pascal Rogé; a collection of famous violin pieces including “Zigeunerweisen”; and J. S. Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin.
In 2010, Kobayashi was invited as a jury member in the violin division of the Long-Thibaud International Competition. In 2012, she performed in a concert held in Pakistan to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Pakistan. She has performed in many other countries including France, Britain, Thailand, China, Korea and New Zealand, captivating audiences with profound performances combining refinement and dynamism. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of her debut in 2015, she planned and performed six outstanding recitals over a two-year period. 　　
Since 2018 Kobayashi has performed a six-recital series at Hakuju Hall exploring the beauty and appeal of the violin. As one of Japan’s leading violinists, Kobayashi is planning future recitals, chamber music concerts and performances with orchestras throughout the country.
She is currently a professor at Showa University of Music.
Official website: http://miekobayashi.com/

(June 2020)