Shunske Sato (Japanese: 佐藤 俊介, Hepburn: Satō Shunsuke, born 10 June 1984 in Tokyo) is a Japanese-born violinist. He was the concertmaster and artistic director of the Netherlands Bach Society from 2018 to 2023.[1]
Sato was born in Tokyo, Japan.[2] When he was two years old, on a family outing to a shrine, Sato was intrigued by sounds from a Suzuki violin studio, which led him to begin playing the violin.[3] He moved to the United States when he was three years old.[2] Sato attended Central High School[4] in Philadelphia.[3]
Sato was mentored by Chin Kim and Dorothy DeLay[5] and trained and educated by Masao Kawasaki at the Juilliard School, Jaime Laredo at the Curtis Institute, Gérard Poulet at the École Normale de Musique de Paris, and Mary Utiger at Hochschule für Musik und Theater München.[6]
Sato started his concert career in the United States at age 12 by winning the Young Concert Artists first prize in 1997, becoming the youngest winner.[7][3] He then performed throughout North America, Europe, and Japan as a soloist with orchestras such as Baltimore Symphony, Seattle Symphony,[8] National Symphony Orchestra (United States), Minnesota Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Omsk Academy Symphony Orchestra,[9] Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, Gulbenkian Orchestra, and Copenhagen Philharmonic.
Writing for The New York Times, Allan Kozinn praised Sato in his New York recital debut in 2000 as having "developed an astonishing level of poise and musicality".[2]
In 2001, Sato became the youngest artist[failed verification] to perform Beethoven's violin concerto at the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, Germany, which was broadcast through Deutsche Welle.[3]
He was the recipient of a loan by Nippon Music Foundation[10] and a winner of Idemitsu Music Award in 2005 sponsored by Idemitsu Kosan, one of leading oil companies in Japan.
In 2007, as a violist, Sato recorded viola solo sonatas written for Sato by Akira Nishimura for Camerata Tokyo.[11]
As a baroque violinist, he won the Second Prize and the Audience Award at the 17th International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig, Germany in July, 2010.[12][13] The Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan chose Sato to be a recipient of the New Face Prize in the Music Division at its 65th Arts Festival based on his Baroque recital which took place in Tokyo on 29 October 2010.[14]
In October 2011, Sato made his UK debut in Cambridge and London with the Academy of Ancient Music under the direction of Richard Egarr, performing Niccolò Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 2 with gut strings on a period instrument.[15]
In January 2013, Sato was appointed concertmaster of the Netherlands Bach Society Orchestra, succeeding Johannes Leertouwer,[16] as well as the Concerto Köln.[17] That same month, Sato also received a baroque violin made by Giovanni Grancino around 1695 on loan from the Jumpstart Jr. Foundation in Amsterdam, Netherlands.[18] In November, the Amsterdam School of the Arts announced their appointment of Sato as a guest teacher to the Early Music Department.[6] In December, Sato performed duo recitals of Mozart's sonatas at the Izumi Hall in Osaka[19] and the Toppan Hall in Tokyo, Japan[20] along with German pianist and harpsichordist Andreas Staier.
In August 2015, Sato made his Canadian debut in Montreal with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Kent Nagano, performing Johann Sebastian Bach's Violin Concerto No.1 with a period instrument.[21]
In September 2016, Sato made his Australian debut in Sydney and Melbourne with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra under direction of Paul Dyer, performing Niccolò Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 4, playing with gut strings. In the tour, Sato directed Felix Mendelssohn's String Symphony No. 3 and Edvard Grieg's Holberg Suite Op. 40. The live concert in Melbourne was recorded and broadcast by ABC Classic FM, and in February 2017 it was released in CD from ABC Classics.[22] In November 2016, Sato performed Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons with Concerto Köln, which was recorded live in Kempen, Germany and was released by Berlin Classics.[23]
On 11 May 2017, Sato was appointed the 6th artistic director of the Netherlands Bach Society (Nederlandse Bachvereniging) beginning on 1 June 2018, succeeding Jos van Veldhoven.[24]
In April 2019, Sato received the 31st Music Award in Classical Music/Solo Performance by the Japan Music Pen Club.[25] From 28 September to 6 October 2019, as the 6th artistic director of the Netherlands Bach Society, Sato led a concert tour with the ensemble in Kyoto, Kanagawa, Hiroshima, and Tokyo Japan.[26]
On 1 January 2020, Mainichi Shimbun published the 61st Arts Awards recipients, including Sato, based on his leadership of The Netherlands Bach Society's Japan tour and his J. S. Bach unaccompanied Sonatas and Partitas recitals in Tokyo, Kyoto, Yokohama, Saitama, Hiroshima.[27][28] Later that month, the Record Geijutsu Journal awarded Sato the 57th Record Academy Award Silver Prize, the highest prize as a soloist, highly evaluating his unaccompanied solo works by J. S. Bach, released the year prior.[29] In March, the Agency for Cultural Affairs announced the 76th Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Awards in Arts, which recognized Sato as a recipient of the Newcomer Award in Arts.[30] On 11 December 2020, Sato officially debuted as a conductor at the AVRO TV live televised concert of Netherlands Bach Society at TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, Netherlands.[31]
In April 2022, Sato conducted St Matthew Passion, leading the Netherlands Bach Society as the first tour after COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands lockdown.[32]
In January, February and June 2023, Sato, Clive Brown, and Concerto Köln participated in "Historical Performance Practice of the 19th Century – Romanticism".[33][34][35][36][37] In March, Sato conducted the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra for works in the Classical and Romantic Periods, and also performed Violin Concerto No. 8 by Louis Spohr.[38] On 30 May 2023, Sato resigned as the concertmaster, soloist, and artistic director of the Netherlands Bach Society after a farewell concert. He said that he desired to play other kinds of music but was hindered by his obligations to the Bach Society.[39]
