Ayano Ninomiya is a Japanese-American

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist and a winner of both the Naumburg International Violin Competition and Tibor Varga International Competitions.

Early life

Ninomiya was born in

Takamatsu file:Takamatsu City Hall.jpg, 270px, Takamatsu City Hall file:Takamatsu city center area Aerial photograph.2007.jpg, 270px, Aerial view of Takamatsu city center file:Takamatsu200910cut.JPG, 270px, View from Yashima to Takashima port is a capital ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and moved to the United States when she was one. She is a graduate of

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, from which she obtained music and French degrees while studying with Michele Auclair and Miriam Fried. She then was awarded the ''David McCord Prize'' there as well winning the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra Concerto Competition. Later, she obtained a master's degree from the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

, where she was under the guidance of

Robert Mann Robert Nathaniel Mann (July 19, 1920 – January 1, 2018) was a violinist, composer, conductor, and founding member of the Juilliard String Quartet, as well as a faculty member at the Manhattan School of Music. Mann, the first violinist at Jui ...

. She also was mentored by coaches Michele Auclair,

Miriam Fried Miriam Fried (; born 9 September 1946) is a Romanian-born Israeli classical violinist and pedagogue. Biography Miriam Fried was born in Satu Mare, Romania but moved with her family to Israel when she was aged 2. Her family settled in Herzliya. ...

, Hyo Kang,

András Keller András Keller (born 1960) is a Hungarian violinist and a founder of the Keller Quartet. He also works as a director and conductor of Concerto Budapest. At the age of 7, Keller began playing the instrument and seven years later was admitted to t ...

, Robert Levin, and Marylou Speaker Churchill.

Performances

She has performed with such

quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

s as

Daedalus In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek language, Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin language, Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan language, Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. H ...

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait f ...

, and the

Momenta Momenta Global Limited (shortened to Momenta) is a developer of intelligent driving technologies, based in Beijing and Suzhou, China. History Momenta was founded in September 2016 led by Cao Xudong, a former scientist at Microsoft Research a ...

in both Singapore and China, across Europe, and throughout the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and was a member of the TinAlley String Quartet of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. She also was a frequent

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

participant and appeared in such events as the Bridgehampton, the Caramoor, the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

, and many others. She also played violin at the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

and

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

and performed at places as diverse as

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Columbia, Denton,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, the US Capitol, and

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, where she talked on

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

in 2012. In 2010, she became first violinist of the

Ying Quartet The Ying Quartet is an American string quartet. The Ying siblings, from Winnetka, Illinois,Allan KozinnMusic in Review ''New York Times'' May 21, 1991R. M. Campbell," ''Seattle PI,'' Nov 10 2008 formed the quartet in 1988 while studying at the U ...

and Associate Professor at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

. She has recorded three CDs with the Ying Quartet. When not performing, Ayano Ninomiya is a

Kokikai is a style of Aikido, founded by Shuji Maruyama.Gaku Homma"Silent Pioneer: Shuji Maruyama Sensei, Kokikai Founder," Aikido Journal, November 17, 2002Gaku Homma"A New Leader in Iwama," Aikido Journal, March 8th, 2004 The organization is called ' ...

practitioner and plays a 2010 violin by living maker Mario Miralles.

Awards

She placed second in the Violin Competition of 2003 sponsored by the

Walter W. Naumburg Foundation The Walter W. Naumburg Foundation sponsors competitions and provides awards for young classical musicians in North America. Founded in 1925, it operates the prestigious Naumburg Competition. Foundation and concerts It was founded in 1925 by Wa ...

References

External links

* Living people Japanese classical violinists Japanese women classical violinists American classical musicians of Japanese descent Harvard College alumni 21st-century Japanese musicians 1979 births Musicians from Takamatsu, Kagawa Japanese emigrants to the United States 21st-century classical violinists American classical violinists American women classical violinists {{Violinist-stub