Manhattan, New York, NY
Violin Lessons | Artist development, Ensemble Coaching, Theory Lessons, Online Lessons
Bio
Mai Matsumoto is a classically-trained Japanese violinist based in New York City at the Juilliard School. A semifinalist in the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition, she received first prize at the Mondavi Center Young Artists Competition, San Francisco/Bay Area ASTA Competition, the CMTANC United States International Music Competition, and DVC/HNU Young Artist Competition. She received an Honorable Mention from the National YoungArts Foundation, and has also been featured on NPR’s “From the Top” program, premiering a quartet in 2016. Additionally, she served as Principal Violinist in the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, in which she has performed in several renowned venues, including the Davies Symphony Hall, the Royal Concertgebouw, and the Berliner Philharmonie. Mai has performed as a soloist with the South Valley Symphony, the Prometheus Symphony Orchestra, the DVC Philharmonic Orchestra, and the North American Medical Orchestra.
Mai hopes to make classical music more accessible in her community through artistry and outreach activities. Her vision is that every musician is an artist citizen who initiates the artistic exchange within their community. In the Bay Area, she participated in many outreach activities through performances as the president of her high school music club, as a member of The “Back to Bach” Project: Kids for Classical, and as part of the Harmony Circle. At Juilliard for two years, she served as a violinist of the Para Quintet, a recipient of the Gluck Community Service Fellowship. Aside from performing, she enjoys sharing her passion for music with young students through teaching, both in English and Japanese. As an Ambassador for the Opportunity Music Project, she works privately with students from elementary to high school on music theory and violin. From Fall 2022, she will be working with students throughout New York City as a Morse Teaching Artist Fellow.
A native of Tokyo, Japan, Mai began studying the violin at the age of 4 at Toho Gakuen School of Music for Children with Ami Watanabe. After moving to the United States at the age of 10, she attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College Division, where she studied with Bettina Mussumeli and Zhao Wei. She has attended Music@Menlo Chamber Music Institute and the Aspen Music Festival as a recipient of the New Horizons Fellowship. She has recently served as the principal second violin of the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra. She enjoys playing in chamber music groups at Juilliard, in which she has worked with David Finckel, Daniel Phillips, Roger Tapping, Emanuel Ax, and Earl Carlyss. Mai received her Bachelor of Music degree in 2022 from the Juilliard School and is currently in the first year of the Master of Music program at Juilliard, where she studies with Naoko Tanaka and Catherine Cho.
Teaching Info
I’m available to teach in either English or Japanese. I try to be as flexible as possible to meet the student’s needs, so please feel to contact me with any questions!