Presented by the Royal Academy of Music
Born in Tokyo, Eriko Nagayama is a Japanese violinist currently in her second year studying as a postgraduate at the Royal Academy of Music under the tutelage of György Pauk. She started playing the violin at the age of four, and for many years studied violin and chamber music at the Toho Gakuen School of Music under Koichiro Harada, who founded the renowned Tokyo String Quartet in which he played first violin for 12 years. Eriko has won several awards including first prize and also the Jean Schmidt prize for outstanding musicianship at the Yokohama International Music Competition in 2015, chaired by Gérard Poulet, Wilfrid Parry Brahms Prize 2016, and Sir John Barbirolli Memorial Prize at the Royal Academy of Music.
Recent performances include Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy op 46 with Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra at the Rising Star Concert Series of Japan Performance Federation, and Chausson’s Poème and Franck’s Violin Sonata at the Yamaha Music Foundation concert. As a chamber musician she performed at various venues including Suntory Hall, since awarded full scholarships from the Suntory Hall Chamber Music Academy for two years. Additionally, she had several opportunities to play as Leader or Principal Violin at the Toho Gakuen Orchestra (Tokyo), the Freixenet Symphony Orchestra of the Encounter (Santander, Spain), and the Academy Symphony Orchestra (Royal Academy of Music, London).
Eriko has participated in several festivals and academies including PyeongChang Music Festival, Ishikawa Music Academy, Kyoto French Music Academy, ProQuartet in Paris, Encuentro de Santander, and International Menuhin Music Academy Masterclass in Gstaad. She has performed in masterclasses with including Zakhar Bron, Maxim Vengerov, James Ehnes, Todd Phillips, Krzysztof Wegrzyn, Nam Yun Kim, Régis Pasquier, Svetlin Roussev, Roland Daugareil, and Yair Kless and with such quartets as the Tokyo String Quartet, Quartet Excelsior, Verus String Quartet, Kuss Quartet, and Doric Quartet. Eriko is generously supported by the Yellow Angel Foundation in Japan. She has been granted the fellowship to study in London for the 2017/18 academic year by the Program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Japanese government, which sends young artists of proven talent abroad.
She plays a violin by Nicolo Gagliano, Naples, 1755 kindly on loan from the Royal Academy of Music, London.