“The Washington Post” wrote about the performer’s playing: “her rich, focused, penetrating sound carved through the sonic space like a race car, freely navigating traffic (and sometimes stopping it)”. And “The St. Louis American” describes her virtuosity as “almost superhuman”.
Akiko Suwanai triumphed and won 1st place at the International Tchaikovsky Competition (1990) – one of the most prestigious competitions in the world. At just 18 years old, she became the youngest winner of this competition and immediately began an impressive international career. She has performed with the world’s most renowned orchestras – the Berlin and New York Philharmonics, the London Symphony and London Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, and many other top-tier ensembles. On stage, she has collaborated with world-renowned conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Pierre Boulez, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Paavo Järvi, Lorin Maazel, Charles Dutoit, Sakari Oramo, Fabio Luisi, Jaap van Zweden, and others.
Critics’ reviews are particularly eloquent, testifying to both Akiko Suwanai’s astonishing virtuosity and her mesmerizing interpretations. “American Songwriter” emphasizes the performer’s “wide repertoire and exceptional technical mastery, setting her apart even among the world’s most talented musicians,” while “South Finland News” wrote that Akiko Suwanai’s violin sound was “one of the most beautiful ever heard in Sibelius Hall,” and her interpretations were “innovative, fresh,” as if the performer drew inspiration “not from the earth, but from the heavens”.
Due to these qualities, Akiko Suwanai is today considered one of the world’s most prominent violinists, constantly invited to perform on prestigious stages such as New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonic, London’s Royal Albert Hall, the BBC Proms, and the Lucerne and Schleswig-Holstein Festivals.
Akiko Suwanai’s last season was particularly intense – she performed with the Lucerne Symphony and Budapest Festival Orchestras, debuted with the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, toured China with the Halle Orchestra and conductor Kahchun Wong, and also toured Spain and Cardiff with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conductor Jaime Martín.
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Akiko Suwanai is an exceptionally versatile performer. She has masterfully embraced and originally interprets classical masterpieces: her discography is adorned with all the most important violin concertos (by M. Bruch, F. Mendelssohn, J. Brahms, J. Sibelius, etc.). In addition, the violinist is actively involved in the field of contemporary music. She is the first performer of many new works: Akiko Suwanai prepared the world premiere of Dai Fujikura’s double concerto for violin and flute, the premieres of Peter Eötvös’s work “Seven” at the Lucerne Festival with Pierre Boulez and at the BBC Proms with Susanna Mälkki, Toshio Hosokawa’s “Genesis” with the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne and conductor Osmo Vänskä, and was also the first in Asia to perform violin concertos by James MacMillan, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Krzysztof Penderecki.
Alongside her intense concert activities, Akiko Suwanai also fosters cultural initiatives. In 2012, she founded the international festival “NIPPON,” held in Tokyo and Nagoya, and serves as its artistic director. The biennial festival regularly commissions new works from Japanese and foreign composers, so thanks to the violinist’s initiative, world premieres performed by the best classical artists from around the globe are heard here annually.
At the concert in Vilnius, Akiko Suwanai will perform two special works: “Nostalgia” for violin and orchestra, dedicated to the memory of the legendary director Andrei Tarkovsky, composed by Toru Takemitsu, inspired by the director’s work and his film of the same name; and also the famous Arvo Pärt masterpiece “Fratres” for violin and string orchestra.
The performance of the captivating violin virtuoso Akiko Suwanai – at the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra concert on October 29 at the National Philharmonic.
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