KOH GABRIEL KAMEDA
“..even among the brilliant and promising, there is one outstanding” and “genius violinist” wrote the Yedhiot Ahronot newspaper after Pinchas Zukerman delighted an audience in Tel Aviv by presenting Mr. Kameda as a surprise guest soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 1994.
First prizewinner of the Henryk Szeryng International Violin Competition in Mexico in 1997, violinist Koh Gabriel Kameda is recognized by international audiences, critics and colleagues alike as one of the next generation's foremost emerging artists. After hearing him play, Lord Yehudi Menuhin stated enthusiastically that he “was most impressed” with Mr. Kameda's performance, and Sir James Galway proclaimed that “he is one of the most remarkable players of his generation”. The German press praised his virtuosity, with Scala magazine saying Mr. Kameda “sounds like Heifetz”, and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung exclaiming that he is “miraculous”. In Japan, the journal Ongaku no Tomo wrote that he has an “amazing sound”; in the United States, the Salt Lake City Deseret News was struck by his “unbelievable performance”. He is “one of the best in this orbit”, gushed El Dia of Mexico, and in Brasil Zero Hora marveled that “his Stradivarius turned into a Magic Violin”.
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.
Mr. Kameda is now sought after for concerto appearances with symphony orchestras as well as for recital and ensemble appearances on the great concert stages and at prestigious festivals around the world.
Mr. Kameda is a top prizewinner of numerous 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 Mr.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, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Southwest Radio Symphony Orchestra (Germany), the Austrian Radio and Televison Symphony Orchestra, the Belgian Radio and Television Orchestra, the Osaka Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Zürich Chamber Orchestra, the Kölner Kammerorchester, the National Symphony of Ireland, the Mexican Symphonic State Orchestra, the Philharmonica Hungarica, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the New Japan Philharmonic, the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra and many others.
While residing in Germany, Mr. Kameda also spends a great part of the year in Japan, where he has received voracious praise for his extensive artistic activities and has become an important new figure in the classical music scene. In 2000 he appeared at the renowned Suntory Hall five times - completely selling out the house each time. Ten years earlier in 1990, he made his concert debut in Japan playing two evenings of violin concertos in Tokyo (Suntory Hall) and Osaka (Symphony Hall). His career in Japan did not comence with these concerts however, but rather started on the primetime TV documentary program “NHK special: Einstein Roman” for the Japanese radio and television company NHK. He worked together with author Michael Ende (Neverending Story, Momo) and fashion designer Hanae Mori (Hanae Mori Co. Ltd), starring in the lead role and recording the soundtrack (NHK, Apollon Inc.). 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). He also made a film in the Hi-Vision format (HDTV), which was presented at the Cannes Film Festival. Indeed, his popularity in Japan is such that it has led to the establishment of a fan club there. http://www.koh-fc.com
An outstanding moment in Mr. Kameda's early career was the remarkable opportunity he had to collaborate 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.
In 1995 Mr. Kameda made his recital debut in Japan at Tokyo's Suntory Hall, all of whose seats were effortlessly filled by an audience of more than 2000.
His ongoing project, “Music Heals”, a series of concerts in hospitals where for many years Mr. 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 and Gerard Schwarz. This work was commissioned by Jasha Heifetz in 1945 and had not been played since. Gruenberg's daughter, Joan Gruenberg Cominos, on Mr. Kameda's performance, remarked, “I was delighted to discover your brilliant performance of my father's violin concerto. You have perfected this difficult work and play it beautifully.”
Mr. Kameda is currently an Assistant Professor for violin at the Zurich School of Music, Drama and Dance (Hochschule für Musik und Theather Zürich) since the summer semester of 2004.
Koh Gabriel Kameda has produced and released various CDs and a DVD on his own label kameda-music in Japan.
During the 2006-2007 season, Mr. Kameda is scheduled four concert tours in Japan, Thailand, Europe and Latin America, performing with various symphony orchestras, including Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, The State of Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Guanajuato Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Chamber Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra of SESI PortoAlegre (Brasil) amongst others as well as in recital and chamber music programs.