Koh Gabriel Kameda
Encyclopedia
Koh Gabriel Kameda is a German-Japanese concert violinist and violin teacher.
stated enthusiastically that he “was most impressed” with Kameda’s performance, and Sir James Galway proclaimed that “he is one of the most remarkable players of his generation”.
At the age of twelve Kameda enrolled in the University of Music in Karlsruhe
, Germany, and studied with professor Josef Rissin. In 1993 violinist and conductor Pinchas Zukerman
invited him to come to New York and work with him at the Manhattan School of Music
.
Kameda received numerous prizes from national and international competitions. He won first prize at the National German Competition for young musicians, first prize at the International Violin Competition Kloster Schöntal, and first prize at the International Violin Competition “Henryk Szeryng
”. In addition he was a prizewinner at the Eurovision Contest
in Vienna, which was broadcast live on TV throughout Europe. During his career Kameda has received various awards including the Music Award of the European Industry, the Jürgen-Ponto Foundation award, the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben award, the Baden-Württemberg Art Foundation award, a scholarship from the international Richard Wagner Society, the Dora Zaslavsky-Koch Scholarship Award, and others.
Koh Gabriel Kameda debuted in 1988 at the age of thirteen in Baden-Baden, Germany, performing the Violin Concerto no.5 by Henri Vieuxtemps with the Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra. Since then he continues to perform throughout Europe, Asia, as well as in North and South America. He has appeared as a soloist with leading orchestras around the world including the Staatskapelle Dresden, Berliner Symphoniker
, Hamburger Symphoniker
, SWR Rundfunkorchesters Kaiserslautern, Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestra BRTN, Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra
, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Zurich Chamber Orchestra
, Kölner Kammerorchester, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra
, Athens State Orchestra, The Philharmonica Hungarica, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic
, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Nordhausen Symphony Orchestra, The State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Chamber Philharmonic and the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, amongst many others.
While residing in Germany, Kameda has also received praise for his extensive artistic activities in Japan, where he has become an important figure in the classical music scene. During the year 2000 he performed at the Suntory Hall
five times, each time tickets were sold out completely. Ten years earlier in 1990, he made his stage debut in Japan performing various violin concertos during the same concert in Tokyo (Suntory Hall
) and Osaka (Symphony Hall
). His career in Japan did not commence with these concerts however, but rather started on the primetime TV documentary program “NHK special: Einstein Roman” for the radio and television company Japan Broadcasting Corporation NHK
. He worked together with author Michael Ende
(Neverending Story, Momo) and fashion designer Hanae Mori
, starring in the lead role and recording the soundtrack. At the same time he recorded a laser disc of the program, the first classical music laser disc produced in Japan (BMG Fun House, Japan). Indeed, his popularity in Japan is such that it has led to the establishment of a fan club there.
An outstanding moment in Kameda’s early career was the collaboration in a series of concerts with the late Witold Lutoslawski
in 1993, a year before the death of the Polish composer. He performed the work “Chain II” under the baton of the composer himself, and from those concerts the last live CD of the composer was produced, receiving great acclaim by the press: “outstanding”, according to Neue Musik Zeitung; “superb technique and expressive maturity”, wrote Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
.
His ongoing project, “Music Heals”, a series of concerts in hospitals where for many years Kameda has been actively volunteering to bring music to patients, was featured by TV Tokyo in a 60-minute television documentary broadcast in 1999, receiving much attention especially from outside the regular concert-hall-going circles.
In April 2002 Koh Gabriel Kameda premiered the Violin Concerto by Louis Gruenberg
in Japan with the New Japan Philharmonic
under the direction of Gerard Schwarz
. This work was commissioned by Jascha Heifetz
in 1945. After Jascha Heifetz had performed and recorded the concerto with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Monteux
it has not been presented by anyone until Kameda played it as the first violinist besides Heifetz. Gruenberg’s daughter, Joan Gruenberg Cominos, remarked on Kameda’s performance “I was delighted to discover your brilliant performance of my father's violin concerto. You have perfected this difficult work and play it beautifully.” German journalist and author Harald Eggebrecht also reviews Kameda's performance of the Gruenberg concerto in his book "Große Geiger. Kreisler, Heifetz, Oistrach, Mutter, Hahn und Co".
Reviews in the international press, German Scala magazine saying Koh Gabriel Kameda “sounds like Heifetz”, and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
exclaiming that he is “miraculous”. In Japan, the music journal Ongaku no Tomo wrote that he has an “amazing sound”; in the United States, the Salt Lake City Deseret News “mesmerizing performance”
. He is “one of the best in this orbit”, El Dia of Mexico, in Brasil Zero Hora “his Stradivarius turned into a Magic Violin”, in Israel “..even among the brilliant and promising, there is one outstanding” and “genius violinist” the Yedhiot Ahronot newspaper wrote after his performance with Pinchas Zukerman and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
Kameda was holding a teaching position at the Zurich University of the Arts between 2004 and 2009. In 2010 he has been appointed his present position as professor of violin at the University of Music Detmold
.
Koh Gabriel Kameda plays on a violin by Antonio Stradivari
made in 1727.
by Antonio Vivaldi
and the Estaciones Porteñas
from Astor Piazzolla
arranged by pianist and composer Peter von Wienhardt.
Kameda was also the founding member of the piano trio Trio Frankfurt with pianist Nami Ejiri and cellist Isang Enders.
Early life
Koh Gabriel Kameda was born in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, into a family of medical doctors. He began playing the violin at the age of five and participated in competitions with the age of 8 winning first prizes, shortly later he started to study with Josef Rissin in Karlsruhe.Career
Koh Gabriel Kameda, First prizewinner of the Henryk Szeryng International Violin Competition in Mexico in 1997, is a recognized violinist by international audiences and colleagues. After hearing him play, Lord Yehudi MenuhinYehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
stated enthusiastically that he “was most impressed” with Kameda’s performance, and Sir James Galway proclaimed that “he is one of the most remarkable players of his generation”.
At the age of twelve Kameda enrolled in the University of Music in Karlsruhe
Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe's University of Music is a college of music in Karlsruhe, Germany.-Studies:The Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe offers tuition in voice, orchestral instruments, piano, composition and music journalism. The academic degrees go from Bachelors to Artists Diplomas.- External links:*...
, Germany, and studied with professor Josef Rissin. In 1993 violinist and conductor Pinchas Zukerman
Pinchas Zukerman
Pinchas Zukerman is a world-renowned violinist, violist, and conductor. He is considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th and 21st centuries, and his ongoing 45-year career has seen him perform with the world's best-known orchestras and record over 100 works...
invited him to come to New York and work with him at the Manhattan School of Music
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
.
Kameda received numerous prizes from national and international competitions. He won first prize at the National German Competition for young musicians, first prize at the International Violin Competition Kloster Schöntal, and first prize at the International Violin Competition “Henryk Szeryng
Henryk Szeryng
Henryk Szeryng was a Polish violinist.-Early years:He was born in Żelazowa Wola, Poland on 22 September 1918 into a wealthy family....
”. In addition he was a prizewinner at the Eurovision Contest
Eurovision Young Musicians Competition 1990
The 5th Eurovision Young Musicians final was held at Musikverein in Vienna, Austria on 29 May 1990.Musicians from five countries participated in the televised final. They were all accompanied by the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the leadership of Pinchas Steinberg.- Winner and remaining...
in Vienna, which was broadcast live on TV throughout Europe. During his career Kameda has received various awards including the Music Award of the European Industry, the Jürgen-Ponto Foundation award, the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben award, the Baden-Württemberg Art Foundation award, a scholarship from the international Richard Wagner Society, the Dora Zaslavsky-Koch Scholarship Award, and others.
Koh Gabriel Kameda debuted in 1988 at the age of thirteen in Baden-Baden, Germany, performing the Violin Concerto no.5 by Henri Vieuxtemps with the Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra. Since then he continues to perform throughout Europe, Asia, as well as in North and South America. He has appeared as a soloist with leading orchestras around the world including the Staatskapelle Dresden, Berliner Symphoniker
Berliner Symphoniker
Berliner Symphoniker ia a Symphony orchestra in Berlin, Germany.The orchestra began its performing activity on 1 September 1967 as Symphonisches Orchester Berlin. In 1990 it was renamed Berliner Symphoniker...
, Hamburger Symphoniker
Hamburger Symphoniker
The Hamburger Symphoniker is a German orchestra based in Hamburg, Germany. Founded in 1957, it is one of the city's three largest orchestras...
, SWR Rundfunkorchesters Kaiserslautern, Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestra BRTN, Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra
Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra
The is a classical orchestra based in Osaka, Japan. Founded in 1947 as the Kansai Symphony Orchestra, it took its current name in 1960. Founder Takashi Asahina conducted the orchestra for 55 years from its creation until 2001....
, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is the leading symphony orchestra in Israel. It was originally known as the Palestine Orchestra, and in Hebrew as התזמורת הסימפונית הארץ ישראלית The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit...
, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Zurich Chamber Orchestra
Zurich Chamber Orchestra
The Zurich Chamber Orchestra is a Swiss chamber orchestra based in Zurich. The ZKO's principal concert venue in Zurich is the Tonhalle. The ZKO also performs in Zurich at the Rietberg Museum, the ZKO-Haus in the Seefeld quarter of the city, and such churches as the Fraumünster and the Kirche St....
, Kölner Kammerorchester, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra
RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra
The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra is the concert music orchestra of Raidió Teilifís Éireann...
, Athens State Orchestra, The Philharmonica Hungarica, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic
New Japan Philharmonic
The is a symphony orchestra based in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded in 1972 with Seiji Ozawa as honorary conductor laureate. The Philharmonic's primary concert venue is the Sumida Triphony Hall. Since 2003, its music director is Christian Arming....
, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Nordhausen Symphony Orchestra, The State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Chamber Philharmonic and the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, amongst many others.
While residing in Germany, Kameda has also received praise for his extensive artistic activities in Japan, where he has become an important figure in the classical music scene. During the year 2000 he performed at the Suntory Hall
Suntory Hall
The Suntory Hall is a concert hall complex consisting of the "Main Hall" and the "Small Hall" located in the Ark Hills complex, near the U.S. Embassy and TV Asahi in the Akasaka district of northern Minato, a ward in Tokyo, Japan...
five times, each time tickets were sold out completely. Ten years earlier in 1990, he made his stage debut in Japan performing various violin concertos during the same concert in Tokyo (Suntory Hall
Suntory Hall
The Suntory Hall is a concert hall complex consisting of the "Main Hall" and the "Small Hall" located in the Ark Hills complex, near the U.S. Embassy and TV Asahi in the Akasaka district of northern Minato, a ward in Tokyo, Japan...
) and Osaka (Symphony Hall
Symphony Hall
Symphony Hall usually refers to:* Symphony Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, USAIt may also refer to:Concert Halls* Allentown Symphony Hall in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA* Phoenix Symphony Hall in Phoenix, Arizona, USA...
). His career in Japan did not commence with these concerts however, but rather started on the primetime TV documentary program “NHK special: Einstein Roman” for the radio and television company Japan Broadcasting Corporation NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
. He worked together with author Michael Ende
Michael Ende
Michael Andreas Helmuth Ende was a German author of fantasy and children's literature. He is best known for his epic fantasy work The Neverending Story; other famous works include Momo and Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver...
(Neverending Story, Momo) and fashion designer Hanae Mori
Hanae Mori
Hanae Mori is a fashion designer in Japan. She is the only Japanese woman to have presented her collections on the runways of Paris and New York, and the first Asian woman to be admitted as an official haute couture design house by the fédération française de la couture in France...
, starring in the lead role and recording the soundtrack. At the same time he recorded a laser disc of the program, the first classical music laser disc produced in Japan (BMG Fun House, Japan). Indeed, his popularity in Japan is such that it has led to the establishment of a fan club there.
An outstanding moment in Kameda’s early career was the collaboration in a series of concerts with the late Witold Lutoslawski
Witold Lutoslawski
Witold Lutosławski was one of the major European composers of the 20th century, and one of the preeminent Polish musicians during his last three decades. During his lifetime, Lutosławski earned many international awards and prizes, including the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest...
in 1993, a year before the death of the Polish composer. He performed the work “Chain II” under the baton of the composer himself, and from those concerts the last live CD of the composer was produced, receiving great acclaim by the press: “outstanding”, according to Neue Musik Zeitung; “superb technique and expressive maturity”, wrote Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...
.
His ongoing project, “Music Heals”, a series of concerts in hospitals where for many years Kameda has been actively volunteering to bring music to patients, was featured by TV Tokyo in a 60-minute television documentary broadcast in 1999, receiving much attention especially from outside the regular concert-hall-going circles.
In April 2002 Koh Gabriel Kameda premiered the Violin Concerto by Louis Gruenberg
Louis Gruenberg
-Life and career:He was born near Brest-Litovsk , to Abe Gruenberg and Klara Kantarovitch. His family emigrated to the United States when he was a few months old. His father worked as a violinist in New York City...
in Japan with the New Japan Philharmonic
New Japan Philharmonic
The is a symphony orchestra based in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded in 1972 with Seiji Ozawa as honorary conductor laureate. The Philharmonic's primary concert venue is the Sumida Triphony Hall. Since 2003, its music director is Christian Arming....
under the direction of Gerard Schwarz
Gerard Schwarz
Gerard Schwarz is an American conductor. He was music director of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 2011.In 2007 Schwarz was named music director of the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina, having served as principal conductor since 2005...
. This work was commissioned by Jascha Heifetz
Jascha Heifetz
Jascha Heifetz was a violinist, born in Vilnius, then Russian Empire, now Lithuania. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time.- Early life :...
in 1945. After Jascha Heifetz had performed and recorded the concerto with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Monteux
Pierre Monteux
Pierre Monteux was an orchestra conductor. Born in Paris, France, Monteux later became an American citizen.-Life and career:Monteux was born in Paris in 1875. His family was descended from Sephardi Jews who came to France in the wake of the Spanish Inquisition. He studied violin from an early age,...
it has not been presented by anyone until Kameda played it as the first violinist besides Heifetz. Gruenberg’s daughter, Joan Gruenberg Cominos, remarked on Kameda’s performance “I was delighted to discover your brilliant performance of my father's violin concerto. You have perfected this difficult work and play it beautifully.” German journalist and author Harald Eggebrecht also reviews Kameda's performance of the Gruenberg concerto in his book "Große Geiger. Kreisler, Heifetz, Oistrach, Mutter, Hahn und Co".
Reviews in the international press, German Scala magazine saying Koh Gabriel Kameda “sounds like Heifetz”, and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...
exclaiming that he is “miraculous”. In Japan, the music journal Ongaku no Tomo wrote that he has an “amazing sound”; in the United States, the Salt Lake City Deseret News “mesmerizing performance”
. He is “one of the best in this orbit”, El Dia of Mexico, in Brasil Zero Hora “his Stradivarius turned into a Magic Violin”, in Israel “..even among the brilliant and promising, there is one outstanding” and “genius violinist” the Yedhiot Ahronot newspaper wrote after his performance with Pinchas Zukerman and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
Kameda was holding a teaching position at the Zurich University of the Arts between 2004 and 2009. In 2010 he has been appointed his present position as professor of violin at the University of Music Detmold
Hochschule für Musik Detmold
The University of Music Detmold is one of Germany's leading university-level schools of music, situated in Detmold, Germany.- Academics :...
.
Koh Gabriel Kameda plays on a violin by Antonio Stradivari
Antonio Stradivari
Antonio Stradivari was an Italian luthier and a crafter of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas, and harps. Stradivari is generally considered the most significant artisan in this field. The Latinized form of his surname, Stradivarius, as well as the colloquial, "Strad", is...
made in 1727.
Instrument
Kameda played on some notable instruments such as David Tecchler 1715, Antonius Stradivari 1715 ex Joachim, most recently he plays the "Holroyd" Antonius Stradivari of 1727.Ensemble
In 2006 Kameda founded The Tokyo Chamber Philharmonic. A project orchestra based in the metropolitan area of Tokyo. In the same year, Koh Gabriel Kameda lead the orchestra on its first tour of Japan, conducting, as well as soloing with the newly founded orchestra; the first program was "The 8 seasons" a combined performance of the Four SeasonsThe Four Seasons (Vivaldi)
The Four Seasons is a set of four violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. Composed in 1723, The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music. The texture of each concerto is varied, each resembling its respective season...
by Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...
and the Estaciones Porteñas
Estaciones Porteñas
The Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas, also known as the Estaciones Porteñas or The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, are a set of four tango compositions written by Ástor Piazzolla, which were originally conceived and treated as different compositions rather than one suite, although Piazzolla performed them...
from Astor Piazzolla
Ástor Piazzolla
Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music...
arranged by pianist and composer Peter von Wienhardt.
Kameda was also the founding member of the piano trio Trio Frankfurt with pianist Nami Ejiri and cellist Isang Enders.
Partial list of Concert Halls
- Berliner Philharmonie
- Konzerthaus Berlin
- Festspielhaus Baden-Baden
- Alte Oper Frankfurt
- Konzerthaus Dortmund
- Sala São Paulo
- Wigmore Hall, London
- Suntory Hall, Tokyo
- Symphony Hall, Osaka
- Orchard Hall, Tokyo
- Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space
- Sala Cecilia Mireiles, Rio de Janeiro
- Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City
- Sala Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico City
- Merkin Hall Kaufmann Center, New York City
- 92Y Hall, New York City
- Musikvereinssaal Wien
- Palau de la Musica, Valencia
- Auditoria Nacional, Madrid
- Teatro Teresa Carreño, Caracas
- Sala de Giganti, Padova
- Athens Concert Hall Megaron, Athen
- National Concert Hall Dublin, Ireland
Partial discography
- Romances, kameda-music, King Record
- The World of Koh Gabriel Kameda, BMG Funhouse
- Soundtrack NHK Special: Einstein Roman
- Lutoslawski dirigiert Lutoslawski, Antes Edition
Filmography
- The Extraordinary Life & Music of Sonia Eckhardt-Gramatté
- NHK Special: Einstein Roman