Aiko Goto

Aiko began her violin training at the age of three with the Suzuki Method and studied at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Japan. Aiko received a scholarship to study at the Juilliard School in New York under Dorothy DeLay and Masao Kawasaki, graduating in 1994. In 1995 she made her New York debut at the Carnegie Weil Recital Hall, receiving the highest critical acclaim, and in 1997 she performed for the International Refugee Fund attended by the Japanese Royal Family. Aiko was the Coordinator of Strings at Newark School of the Arts in the USA until 1998.

She has been a member of the Saito KinenOrchestra since 1995 (directed by Seiji Ozawa) and has been Concertmaster for several of its programs since 2014. She has played annually in Nobuko Imai’s Viola and Chamber Music Festival. Since 2000, Aiko has held annual charity concert at the Japanese Embassy in Canberra and she has held solo recitals around Australia, and in 2006 gave recitals in Tokyo for the Australia–Japan Year of Exchange.

In 2011 Aiko was invited to be Guest Director and soloist with the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra, and performed in ‘Concert for Japan’, raising funds for the Tohoku Japan Earthquake and Tsunami appeal. Every two years Aiko plays at Nobuko Imai’s Viola and Chamber Music Festival in Japan, and she is a member of Sydney’s Sonus Piano Quartet.

Aiko enjoys teaching and sharing her love of music with young musicians. She is a mentor for the ACO Emerging Artist Program and ACO Collective, and has tutored at the Australian Youth Orchestra’s National Music Camp. Aiko has directed the ACO Academy program in July annually since 2012. She also directed the ACO Collective tour of Tasmania in 2012.

In August 2016, Aiko received a commendation from the Japanese Foreign Ministry on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Japan and Australia.

Aiko performs on a violin made by the French instrument maker Jean Baptiste Vuillaume.