NEVER GIVE UP: Job pays off for violinist who dared to dream

NEVER GIVE UP: Job pays off for violinist who dared to dream By NOBUKO YAMAZAKI, Contributing Writer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As a kid, Daishin Kashimoto knew exactly what he wanted to be when he grew up. But unlike many boys, he didn't have his sights set on flying a jet or batting cleanup for the Yomiuri Giants. ``I dreamed of being a violinist, but I never thought it was a realistic possibility,'' Kashimoto said by phone from Freiburg, Germany, where he's been studying for the past five years. The impossible dream turned out to be within reach, thanks to dedication, talent and a lot of support. His mother gave up her career as a pianist to help him realize his ambition by taking him to the German city of Lubeck to study music when he was 11. ``She's probably the most determined of us all,'' he says. Now 25, Kashimoto also credits his success to teachers like Zakhar Bron, who also taught such Russian violinists as Vadim Repin and Maxim Vengerov. Though some of Bron's students found his strict discipline and uncompromising professionalism unbearable, Kashimoto stuck with him through his teens. ``There were many, many times when I really wanted to quit. But every time the thought crossed my mind, the violin found its way back to me,'' Kashimoto says. After attending the Lubeck Musikhochschule, he enrolled in the Staatliche Hochschule fur Music in Freiburg in 2000 to build his traditional German repertoire. ``Germany is one of the places where classical music started,'' he says. ``Every musician needs to feel its atmosphere.'' Kashimoto first performed in Japan in 1996. He returns this month to play the German music he loves, including Beethoven's light-hearted, lyrical Sonata No. 5, ``Spring,'' as well as lesser-known works by Schubert and Strauss. ``I've never played a Strauss sonata before. It's a challenge,'' he says. Born in London in 1979, Kashimoto began violin lessons in Tokyo at the age of 3, before moving to New York, where his businessman father was transferred in 1985. A year later, he began studying music in the pre-college division of New York's Juilliard School. He made his first appearance as a soloist in 1988, performing Bach's Concerto in A Minor with the New York Symphonic Ensemble, a group formed by musicians from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. ``I think that was the first time I was paid to perform. I remember feeling very proud,'' he says. Asked how much he got, Kashimoto replies, ``For an 8-year-old kid, it felt like millions and millions of dollars.'' His early debut earned him a reputation as a prodigy, a term he doesn't care for. ``I don't think I was that talented,'' the violinist says. ``You always hear this word, `prodigy.' Often, nothing comes of these people. They burn out.'' In 1990, Kashimoto went to Lubeck to study under Bron. That was also the year Kashimoto won first prize at the 4th Bach Junior Music Competition. Though not keen on competitions, he entered them to help build his repertoire. Along the way, he won another four prizes, including the 1996 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud International Competition in Paris, where he performed Brahms' dramatic Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor. Since then, he has performed under the baton of Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons and other well-known conductors. Kashimoto owes his high profile in Japan largely to a TV documentary, ``Rigorous Lessons,'' broadcast by NHK in 1998. It showed him working on Sibelius' Violin Concerto in D Minor with Bron, then performing it in Tokyo with the New Japan Philharmonic under the direction of Seiji Ozawa. Kashimoto's first disc, ``Daishin Debut,'' released in 1999 by Sony Classical, was recorded at a Tokyo concert and includes Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 5. He also recorded the soundtrack for ``Toshiie to Matsu-Kaga Hyakumangoku Monogatari,'' a samurai-themed television series broadcast by NHK in 2002. The work includes two concertos by Toshiyuki Watanabe: ``Elegy'' and ``Eternal Love.'' Kashimoto has performed chamber music extensively under the direction of Korean conductor Myung-Whun Chung in both Japan and South Korea. ``I admire the power and energy that maestro Chung puts into music,'' he says, adding, ``The source of his energy just might be kimchi. I guess I should eat a lot of it.'' Kashimoto also admires Empress Michiko, who came to one of his Tokyo concerts three years ago, when he performed Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen. ``She's radiant. She has something special, an aura, that other people don't,'' he says. ``And she loves classical music.'' That's a sentiment Kashimoto strongly identifies with. ``People might think I'm crazy,'' he says. ``But without music, I couldn't live.'' Daishin Kashimoto will perform Richard Strauss' Sonata in E -flat Major, Op. 18 and other works around the country. Feb. 18 (6:30 p.m.) at Ako-shi Bunka Kaikan Harmony Hall in Hyogo Prefecture. 3,000 yen and 4,000 yen. Call the venue at 0791-43-5111. Feb. 20 (2 p.m.) at Symphony Hall in Osaka. See map on Page 33. 4,500 yen and 6,000 yen. Call ABC Ticket Center at 06-6453-6000. Feb. 23 (7 p.m.) at Nyuzen Cosmo Hall in Nyuzen, Toyama Prefecture. 5,000 yen and 6,000 yen. Call the venue at 0765-72-1105. Feb. 25 (6:45 p.m.) at Shirakawa Hall in Nagoya. 4,500 yen and 6,000 yen. Call the venue at 052-222-7117. Feb. 27 (4 p.m.) at Ashikaga Shimin Plaza in Tochigi Prefecture. 3,000 yen-5,000 yen. Call the venue at 0284-72-8511. March 2 (7 p.m.) at Tokyo Opera City. See map on Page 32. 2,500 yen-6,500 yen. Call Japan Arts Pia at 03-5237-7711 or visit < www.japanarts.co.jp >. March 4 (7 p.m.) at Philia Hall in Yokohama. 6,000 yen and 7,000 yen. Tickets go on sale Feb. 12. Call the venue at 045-982-9999. March 5 (2 p.m.) at Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall. See map on Page 33. 3,000 yen-6,000 yen. Call Kanagawa Geijutsu Kyokai at 045-453-5080.(IHT/Asahi: February 4,2005)