ARTISTS


KAORI YAMAGAMI
CELLO

GALLERY | BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | CONCERTO


GALLERY



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BIOGRAPHY

Gaining national attention by winning the 2001 CBC Radio National Competition, Canadian cellist Kaori Yamagami has continued to conquer international achievements and accolades. In 2005, Kaori was a prize winner at the International Rostropovich Cello Competition in Paris. This prize adds to her highly acclaimed competition wins including the prestigious Sylva Gelber Foundation Award which is given to the most outstanding Canadian artists under the age of 30. Kaori was also the top prize winner at the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank national competition. She was awarded the three-year loan of the ca. 1696 Bonjour Stradivari cello, the most valuable instrument in the Instrument Bank – valued at approximately $4.5 million US. She will also retain the use of the ca. 1850 Shaw-Adam cello bow, which she originally won in the Instrument Bank’s September 2000 cello competition. Ms. Yamagami has taken first prize at numerous other competitions including, the Philadelphia Orchestra Competition, the Kingsville International Competition, both the Junior and Senior divisions at the Montreal Symphony Competition and the JAA Music Awards in New York.

Originally from Maple, Ontario, Kaori began studying the cello at the age of 3, making her first public appearance by age 6 at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. In 1995, at age 13, she was accepted and enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music under the tutelage of Orlando Cole. She recently completed studies with Paul Katz at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Upon her graduation, Kaori was the recipient of the Beebe Fellowship, which is supporting her current graduate studies in Germany.

In recent years, Kaori has performed throughout Canada on such touring networks as Prairie Debut and Debut Atlantic. For these tours, she performed throughout Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and New Brunswick. She has also appeared in music festivals in the cities such as Vancover, Montreal and Winnipeg. This past season saw Ms. Yamagami perform in her native Ontario and included her debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra London.

Kaori has been a recipient of a Professional Career Grant from The Canadian Council for the Arts.

(as of October 2009)

REVIEWS

“Yamagami’s phenomenal control was there from the first notes – as were the yummy, molasses-thick tones from priceless Stradivarius cello loaned to her by the Canada Council Instrument Bank. The new piece by Kuzmenko,…[gave] Yamagami opportunity to show how one, long sweep of a bow can be broken down into myriad shades of meaning and colour.”

- TORONTO STAR

PREFERRED CONCERTO LIST
2010-2011

Barber   Concerto
Bloch   Schelomo
Dvorak   Concerto
Elgar   Concerto
Haydn   Concerto Nos. 1 & 2
Lalo   Concerto
Prokofiev   Sinfonia Concertante, Op. 125
Saint-Saens   Concerto Nos. 1 & 2
Schumann   Concerto
Shostakovich   Concerto No. 1
Tchaikovsky   Variations on a Rococo Theme

Recital repertoire available upon request
Master classes and workshops available
Other concerti available upon request