Hideko Udagawa

• Violinist

Biography

Miss Udagawa was already performing in public by the age of fifteen. She studied at the Tokyo University of Arts and subsequently with Nathan Milstein in London and at New York's Julliard School. Having appeared on NHK Television and undertaken many concerts in Japan, she then embarked on an extensive international career, and has since performed in the United States, Europe and in the Far East with major orchestras, in recital and for radio and television.

In the United Kingdom, Miss Udagawa has appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, the Philharmonia, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the City of Birmingham Symphony, the English Chamber Orchestra and the London Mozart Players. She has also been guest soloist on tour with many visiting orchestras including the Berlin Symphony, the Polish Chamber Orchestra and the Bucharest Philharmonic.

In addition to her recording of the Brahms and Bruch Concerti, Miss Udagawa has also recorded the Heifetz transcriptions for ASV, virtuoso violin pieces for Toshiba-EMI, and the Glazunov Concerto with the London Philharmonic for Pickwick. Her repertoire is extensive, covering more than forty concerti.

Miss Udagawa's recent engagements have included a tour of the Czech Republic with concerts in Prague and at the Brno International Festival, appearances at London's Barbican and Queen Elizabeth Halls, as well as her Carnegie Hall debut. In early 1993, she was heard by listeners around the world on the BBC World Service. Other engagements in 1993 included concerto performances with the Royal Philharmonic under Paavo Jarvi, with the London Mozart Players under Matthias Bamert at the City of London Festival, and with the Philharmonia under Leonard Slatkin for the opening night of the Norwich Festival.