Due to a recent but treatable arm injury, violinist Stefan Jackiw will be unable to perform with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic on its classics concert Saturday. Taking his place will be Ryu Goto, a Japanese-American violinist who launched his career in Asia.
Goto began his study of the violin at age 7 and made his professional debut playing the Paganini “Violin Concerto No. 1” at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. He has since appeared as soloist with the London Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
After hearing Goto perform a few years ago, pianist-turned-conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy remarked that he “was delighted to discover such a fresh and spontaneous talent and an obviously devoted and communicative young artist.”
This season, Goto will appear with the Munich Philharmonic and the Hamburg Symphony. The violinist will also tour Australia and New Zealand performing Tan Dun's “Hero Concerto.” He's been booked for return engagements to Colombia and Ghana.
Goto has become a household name in Japan thanks to his Fugi TV show, “Ryu Goto's Odyssey,” a chronicle of his career and personal life from 1996-2006.
In May 2011, Goto graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in physics. He performs on the 1715 Stradivarius, known both as the “Ex-Pierre Rode” and the “Duke of Cambridge.”
Oklahoma City Philharmonic music director Joel Levine will conduct this “Pristine Visions” concert, a program that will feature Dvorak's “Symphony No. 8 in G Major” and Beethoven's “Violin Concerto in D Major,” the latter featuring Goto as soloist.
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