With his superlative technique, musicality and insightfulness, Shunské Sato has established himself as one of the most noted violinists of the young generation, and continues to perform as soloist and chamber musician throughout the world. Actively developing and confirming his keen interest in historically informed performance in recent years, Shunské has begun to perform regularly on the baroque violin as well, and is distinguished as a versatile and historically conscious musician.
In addition to regular appearances with all the major orchestras in Japan, he has worked with leading European orchestras including the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bavarian Radio Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio, NDR Radio Philharmonic Hannover, Hamburg Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Gulbenkian Orchestra, State Symphony Orchestra of Russia, Mariinsky Theater Orchestra and St. Petersburg Symphony. Since his American debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of 10, he has performed with renowned American orchestras such as the Baltimore Symphony, National Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic and the Syracuse Symphony.
Collaborations with many distinguished conductors have enriched Shunské's musical experience, particularly those with Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Gary Bertini, Myung-Whun Chung, Sergiu Comissiona, Valery Gerghiev, Christopher Hogwood, Hiroyuki Iwaki, Zdenek Macal, Ingo Metzmacher, Eiji Oue, Yuri Temirkanov, and David Zinman.
Shunské launched his recording debut in 2005 with Eugène Ysaÿe's Six Sonatas for solo violin (Live Notes, 2005), which was met with an uncommon unity of laudations from the Japanese press, including those from major newspapers as the Asahi, Yomiuri, and Mainichi. Further recordings include an album of short pieces, “Preludes” (Live Notes, 2006), and Edvard Grieg’s complete sonatas for violin and piano (Live Notes, 2007), which was awarded the Grand Prize of the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan. Most recently, Shunské became the first violinist ever to issue a recording of Niccolò Paganini’s Twenty-Four Caprices for solo violin (UCJ Japan, 2009) from a historically informed perspective, using pure gut strings and a late eighteenth-century style bow.
Alongside his activities on the modern violin, Shunské gained further recognition as a baroque violinist after winning second prize at the 17th International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition Leipzig in 2010, where he received the Public’s Prize as well. A recipient of numerous awards, he began his professional career and made his New York debut under the auspices of Young Concert Artists, and most recently has received the S and R Washington Award in 2006, and the Idemitsu Award in 2005.
Born in Tokyo in 1984, Shunské began the violin at the age of two, immigrating to America with his family two years later. Studying with Chin Kim before coming under the tutelage of Dorothy DeLay and Masao Kawasaki at the Juilliard School of New York, he then pursued his studies with Gérard Poulet in Paris, France. Since October 2009, Shunské has been living in Munich, Germany, studying baroque violin under Mary Utiger at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München.
A long-term recipient of instruments generously provided by the Nippon Music Foundation, Shunské currently plays on violins – modern and baroque – made by Stephan von Baehr (Paris, 2007 & 2009).
- August 2010
