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Sayaka Shoji
Described by Gramophone magazine as "a formidable musician, able to draw on huge reserves of stamina and the unflinching equal of anything thrown at her," Sayaka Shoji regularly performs with the world's leading conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Charles Dutoit, Mariss Jansons, Zubin Mehta, Semyon Bychkov, Paavo Järvi, Myung-Whun Chung, Sir Antonio Pappano and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Highlights of the 2016/17 season include return to Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (Osmo Vänskä) , Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra (Kazushi Ono) and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (Lahav Shani), and tours of Japan with The Mariinsky Orchestra (Valery Gergiev) and NDR Sinfonieorchester (Krzysztof Urbański), she will also perform the Violin Concerto by Krzysztof Penderecki conducted by the composer himself. Further ahead, her engagements include Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Gianandrea Noseda), Tonkustler Orchestra (Yutaka Sado), and NHK Symphony Orchestra (Vladimir Ashkenazy).
Sayaka's long-time mentor and supporter, Yuri Termikanov, invited her regularly since 2001. They have toured together in Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain, UK, Ireland, Belgium, Latvia, France, Italy and USA. They will perform again in the US and St Petersburg in 2017, then in Japan in 2018. In 2012 they recorded Prokofiev's Violin Concertos for Deutsche Grammophon. Sayaka and Termikanov have also collaborated together with the Philharmonia Orchestra on numerous occasions as well as Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Sayaka appears regularly as a recitalist and chamber musician alongside artists such as Vadim Repin, Itamar Golan, Steven Isserlis, and Martin Fröst. Recent festival appearances have included Verbier, Annecy, Ravenna, Prague Spring, Settimane Musicale di Chigiana, Beethovenfest Bonn and Rencontres Musicales d'Evian. She recently gave a recital debut at London's Wigmore Hall which included a new commission solo violin work by Toshio Hosokawa.
Sayaka and pianist Gianluca Cascioli have recorded the complete cycle of Beethoven's Violin Sonata was released in spring 2015. She also toured with Menahem Pressler and their collaboration was documented in a live recording and it was released in autumn 2015.
Sayaka Shoji has lived in Europe since 1998. She took First Prize at the 1999 Paganini Competition – the first Japanese and youngest artist ever to do so. Sayaka plays the 1729 Recamier Stradivarius – kindly loaned to her by Ueno Fine Chemicals Industry Ltd.


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When a major earthquake strikes the Bay Area, it could take months to reestablish essential services and years to rebuild. Successful recovery will depend on whether or not we make good land use planning decisions now. Local jurisdictions that lay the groundwork for rebuilding — by continuously updating their general plans and zoning codes before a major disaster — will be in a much better place to begin a conversation with residents about a recovery vision. By understanding local earthquake hazards and addressing them before the next disaster, we can reduce the amount of damage our cities will face and the amount of rebuilding that will be needed. And by making needed regulatory changes now, governments will have the tools they need to facilitate recovery. On Solid Ground provides recommendations for work to be done before the next earthquake occurs, as well as important steps to take afterwards, as we begin to rebuild.
The SPUR Board of Directors reviewed, debated and adopted this report as official policy on November 14, 2012.
Gore, Jerry Ramiza, Mark Shorett and Michael Tymoff.