Masuko Ushioda
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was a Japanese violinist who had an international career as soloist and teacher.


Early life

Masuko Ushioda was born in
Shenyang Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the list of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Liaonin ...
,
Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...
. Her parents were a well-educated, cosmopolitan couple: her father was a graduate of
Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...
who became an architect, and her mother was a folkloric dancer and choreographer. As it was her mother's dream for her two daughters to achieve independent lives as professionals, and since Western music was of great interest to her parents, Ushioda and her sister Fusa were introduced to musical instruments early on. Family lore says that in the aftermath of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
the Ushiodas had little money and the reason for getting the young Ushioda a violin was because it was the cheapest instrument in the secondhand shop. Her first important influence as a violinist came from Anna Bubnova-Ono – a pupil of the great
Leopold Auer Leopold von Auer (; June 7, 1845July 15, 1930) was a Hungarian violinist, academic, conductor, composer, and instructor. Many of his students went on to become prominent concert performers and teachers. Early life and career Auer was born in ...
(teacher of
Mischa Elman Mischa (Mikhail Saulovich) Elman (; January 20, 1891April 5, 1967) was a Russian-American violinist famed for his passionate style, beautiful tone, and impeccable artistry and musicality. Early life Moses or Moishe Elman was born to a Jewish fa ...
,
Jascha Heifetz Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-American violinist, widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Born in Vilnius, he was soon recognized as a child prodigy and was trained in the Russian classical violin styl ...
,
Nathan Milstein Nathan Mironovich Milstein ( – December 21, 1992) was a Russian and American virtuoso violinist. Widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and for wo ...
,
Efrem Zimbalist Efrem Zimbalist (April 21 .S. April 9 1889 – February 22, 1985) was a Russian and American concert violinist, composer, conducting, conductor and director of the Curtis Institute of Music. Early life Efrem Zimbalist was born on April 9, 1 ...
) – who had moved to Japan in the wake of the Russian Revolution and married the scientist Ono Shun’ichi, uncle of
Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...
. Ushioda's primary education was at Futaba, a very well known private school where the teachers were European nuns. She was already an accomplished violinist by the time she started high school at the
Toho Gakuen School of Music is a private university, private music school in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. History Toho Gakuen was founded in 1948 in Ichigaya (Tokyo) as the Music School for Children, and two years later moved to Sengawa (current address at Wakabacyo, Chōfu-shi, ...
. An important figure at Toho was Hideo Saito, and Ushioda – like many of her fellow students, such as
Seiji Ozawa was a Japanese conductor known internationally for his work as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and especially the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), where he served from 1973 for 29 years. After cond ...
– was strongly influenced by his teachings.


Career

At age 14, Ushioda received widespread attention by winning First Prize in the Mainichi Competition, the most prestigious event of that kind in Japan. This was followed by high school years in which she juggled many concerts and her musical studies at
Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...
. In 1961, the Russian violinist Mikhail Vaiman, who was well known in Japan, was asked to invite two young Japanese students to work with him at the
Leningrad Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory () (formerly known as the Petrograd Conservatory and Leningrad Conservatory) is a school of music in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members ...
as part of its centenary celebration. Ushioda and Teiko Maehashi went there that August. She stayed for more than two years. Ushioda competed in the 1963
Queen Elisabeth Competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition (, ) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in City of Brussels, Brussels. The competition is named after Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium (1876–1 ...
in Brussels and won sixth prize. She continued her studies afterwards with
Joseph Szigeti Joseph Szigeti (, ; 5 September 189219 February 1973) was a Hungarian violinist. Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania. He quickly proved himself to be a child prodigy on the violin, and move ...
in Switzerland, where he then lived. Her life there centered around her lessons and she immersed herself in yet another new culture. She was already very active as a soloist, primarily in Europe and Japan. In 1966, she won silver medal in the
Tchaikovsky Competition The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of ...
in Moscow. There, she met Laurence Lesser (fourth prize winner in cello), whom she married later on. As a result of her victory, Ushioda embarked on an international life as a violin soloist, while maintaining her link to Szigeti and “home” in Switzerland. She came to the U.S. for three summers beginning in 1967 to participate in the Marlboro Music Festival.


Teaching and late career

In 1974, Ushioda and her husband Laurence Lesser were invited by then President
Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City ...
to join the faculty of
New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...
. Over 39 years, Ushioda taught a total of 140 students at NEC. Ushioda's late career was a balance of family, concertizing, and teaching. She made regular trips to Japan - for solo appearances and also as one of the concertmasters of the
Saito Kinen Orchestra The Saito Kinen Orchestra is an orchestra formed annually during the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto, which is held every August and September in Matsumoto city, Nagano, Japan. The orchestra is managed by the Saito Kinen Foundation. History In ...
and the Mito Chamber Orchestra.


Last Days

Ushioda's last trip to Japan, to play in Mito, was in October 2012. On November 6, 2012, shortly after her return home, she was given a diagnosis of acute leukemia. While battling this disease she still taught as much as possible, inviting students one-by-one for bedside lessons. She died at
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, Massachusetts is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and one of the founding members of Beth Israel Lahey Health. It was formed out of the 1996 merger of Beth Israel Hospital (f ...
in Boston on May 28, 2013.


Violins

''Petrus Guarneri (of Venice) 1750. ‘Theodor’ Stradivarius 1690. ''


Discography

Masuko Ushioda, N. Valter. ''Masuko Ushioda in Moscow''. Shinsekai Record (SH-7670). LP. Masuko Ushioda. ''J.S. Bach Sonatas & Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin – Complete''. Toshiba (TA-72001-2), 1972. LP. Masuko Ushioda, Tadashi Mori, Japan Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. ''Tchaikovsky Concerto in D Major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 35, and Bartok Concerto No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra''. Columbia Records. LP. Masuko Ushioda, Seiji Ozawa, Japan Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra - Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor and Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor. EMI Classics 1972 (CAPO-2009). CD Masuko Ushioda. ''Ysaye Six Sonatas for Violin Solo, Op. 27''. Fontec, 1995. CD. Masuko Ushioda''. J.S.Bach: Drei Sonaten und Drei Partiten für Violine Solo''. Fontec, 1997. CD. Masuko Ushioda, Seiji Ozawa, Mito Chamber Orchestra. ''Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5''. Sony Music Japan International, Inc., 2007. CD. Masuko Ushioda, Hideo Saito, Toho Gakuen Orchestra ''Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2''; Joanna Kurkowicz, Dimitri Murrath, Sarah Darling, Natasha Brofsky, Laurence Lesser, Donald Palma, Stephen Drury.'', Stravinsky Apollo, Duo Concertant''. Fontec, 2015. CD. Masuko Ushioda, Tadashi Mori, ABC Symphony Orchestra, ''Glazunov Violin Concerto; Bartok Sonata for Solo Violi;, Stravinsky Divertimento,'' Stephen Drury. Fontec, 2015. CD.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ushioda, Masuko 1942 births 2013 deaths Japanese violinists Japanese women violinists Musicians from Shenyang Educators from Liaoning 20th-century Japanese classical violinists 20th-century Japanese women musicians Women classical violinists Deaths from leukemia in Massachusetts