Karen Gomyo, Violin

Praised by the Chicago Tribune as "a first-rate artist of real musical command, vitality, brilliance and intensity,” Karen Gomyo has captivated audiences in North America, Europe and Australasia with her musical integrity, technical assurance and compelling interpretations.

Ms. Gomyo has worked with the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland, Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, and the Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Houston, Vancouver, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Oregon symphonies, among many others. Highlights of her 19/20 season in North America include a tour with the Toronto Symphony to Montreal and Ottawa and re-engagements with the St. Louis, Detroit, Utah, Nashville and Puerto Rico symphonies.

Internationally, Ms. Gomyo has appeared with the Philharmonia in London, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Bamberg Symphony, Danish National Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Radio France, Stuttgart Radio Symphony, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, and the Polish National Radio Orchestra in Europe; and in Australasia with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania and West Australia (Perth) symphonies as well as on tour with the New Zealand Symphony. She has had the pleasure of working with such eminent conductors as Sir Andrew Davis, Jaap van Zweden, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Leonard Slatkin, Neeme Järvi, David Robertson, David Zinman, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Louis Langrée, Thomas Dausgaard, James Gaffigan, Jakub Hrusa, Pinchas Zukerman, Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla, Hannu Lintu and Thomas Søndergård.

Strongly committed to contemporary works, in May, 2018 Ms. Gomyo performed the world premiere of Samuel Adams’ new Chamber Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen to great critical acclaim. The work was written for her and commissioned by the CSO to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its MusicNow series. She also performed the North American premiere of Matthias Pintscher’s Concerto No. 2 “Mar'eh” with the composer conducting the National Symphony Orchestra, as well as Peteris Vasks' "Vox Amoris" with the Lapland Chamber Orchestra conducted by John Storgårds. She has collaborated in chamber music performances with composers Jörg Widmann, Olli Mustonen, and Sofia Gubaidulina.

Karen Gomyo is also deeply interested in the Nuevo Tango music of Astor Piazzolla, and collaborates with Piazzolla’s longtime pianist and tango legend Pablo Ziegler. She also performs regularly with the Finnish guitarist Ismo Eskelinen, with whom she has appeared at the Dresden and Mainz Festivals in Germany, and in recitals in Helsinki and New York. Future plans include new piano trio collaboration with pianist Olli Mustonen and cellist Julian Steckel.

Born in Tokyo, Ms. Gomyo studied in Montreal and in New York at The Juilliard School with famed violin pedagogue Dorothy DeLay. She plays on the “Aurora, exFoulis” Stradivarius violin of 1703 that was bought for her exclusive use by a private sponsor.