Daishin Kashimoto, Emmanuel Pahud, Paul Meyer, Zvi Plesser, Eric Le Sage
Biography Daishin Kashimoto, Emmanuel Pahud, Paul Meyer, Zvi Plesser, Eric Le Sage
Daishin Kashimoto
was first prize winner of such renowned competitions as the 6th Menuhin International Junior Violin Competition in England in 1993, the International Competition for Violinists in Cologne in 1994 (where he was the youngest participant), and, in 1996, both the International Fritz Kreisler Violin Competition in Vienna and the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud International Competition for Piano and Violin in Paris.
He has received a number of prestigious awards, such as the Arion Award (1995); both the Idemitsu and Mobile Music Awards (1997); the Fresh Artists Award of the Nippon Steel Music Awards (1998); The Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists (1998); the Cultural Award from Hyogo Prefectural Government (2011); the Change Maker 2011 award in Japan; and the Steigenberger and Davidov Awards in Germany.
A Japanese national born in London in 1979, Daishin Kashimoto began studying violin in Tokyo at the age of three under Kumiko Eto. He moved to New York in 1985, and in the following year was accepted as the youngest student in the pre-college division of The Juilliard School, where he studied under Naoko Tanaka and received the Edward John Noble Foundation Scholarship. In 1990 he moved to Lübeck, Germany, to accept an invitation to study under Prof. Zakhar Bron. From age 20 he studied under Prof. Rainer Kussmaul at Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, and completed the master’s course there, winning the Gustav Scheck prize.
He has been recognized internationally for performing under renowned Maestros such as Seiji Ozawa, Lorin Maazel, Yuri Temirkanov, Vladimir Fedoseev, Evgeny Svetlanov, Michel Plasson, Semyon Bychkov, Eliahu Inbal, Mariss Jansons, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Myung-Whun Chung, Mikhail Pletnev and others.
Daishin is also active in the field of chamber music, and has performed with noted musicians such as Martha Argerich, Itamar Golan, Yuri Bashmet, Gidon Kremer, Mischa Maisky, Gérard Caussée, Paul Meyer, Emmanuel Pahud, Eric Le Sage, and others.
On January 22, 2007, he was chosen to perform at a special concert aimed to develop the relationship between China, Korea, and Japan, and performed chamber music with the H.I.H. Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan (viola) and Myung-Whun Chung (piano), together with Jing Zhao and Dong-Hyuck Ahn.
Since 2007, Daishin has served as music director at annual chamber music festival “Le Pont” in Ako and Himeji in Japan.
Daishin was appointed as the first concertmaster of the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2010. He performed also as a soloist with Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle and Andris Nelsons. In addition, he is a member of the Philharmonic Octet Berlin.
As a recent project as a soloist, from 2010 to spring 2013, Daishin performed and recorded all of the Beethoven violin sonatas together with pianist Konstantin Lifschitz, and they received high praise for their concerts throughout Japan spanning three tours. The complete CD box of Beethoven: Complete Violin Sonatas, released worldwide on Warner Classics in January 2014.
He plays on a violin made by Andrea Guarneri, 1674.
Emmanuel Pahud
French and Swiss flautist Emmanuel Pahud began studying music at the age of six. He graduated in 1990 with the 1er Prix from the Paris Conservatoire, and went on studying with Aurèle Nicolet. He won 1st Prize at the Duino, Kobe and Geneva Competitions, and at age 22 Emmanuel joined the Berliner Philharmoniker as Principal Flute under Claudio Abbado, a position which he still holds today. In addition, he enjoys an extensive international career as soloist and chamber musician.
Emmanuel appears regularly at prominent concert series, festivals and orchestras worldwide, and has collaborated as a soloist with leading conductors such as Abbado, Antonini, Barenboim, Boulez, Fischer, Gergiev, Gardiner, Harding, Järvi, Maazel, Nézét-Séguin, Orozco-Estrada, Perlman, Pinnock, Rattle, Rostropovich, Zinman. Emmanuel is a dedicated chamber musician and regularly gives recitals with pianists Eric Le Sage, Alessio Bax, Yefim Bronfman, Hélène Grimaud, Stephen Kovacevich, as well as jazzing with Jacky Terrasson.
In 1993, Emmanuel founded the Summer Music Festival in Salon de Provence together with Eric Le Sage and Paul Meyer, which is still a unique chamber music festival today. He also continues chamber music performances and recordings with Les Vents Français, one of the premiere wind quintets featuring François Leleux, Paul Meyer, Gilbert Audin and Radovan Vlatkovic.
He is committed to expanding the flute repertoire and commissions new flute works every year to composers such as Elliott Carter, Marc-André Dalbavie, Thierry Escaich, Toshio Hosokawa, Michaël Jarrell, Philippe Manoury, Matthias Pintscher, Christian Rivet, Eric Montalbetti and Luca Francesconi.
Since 1996, Emmanuel has recorded 40 albums exclusively for EMI / Warner Classics, which all have received unanimous critical acclaim and awards, resulting in one of the most significant contributions to recorded flute music. Emmanuel was honoured to receive the "Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" for his contribution to music, and is HonRAM of the Royal Academy of Music. He also is an Ambassador for Unicef.
Paul Meyer
made his debut in 1982 by winning the prestigious Eurovision Competition at just 17 years old. He was appointed Solo Clarinet at the Lyon Opera Orchestra in 1983, then at the Ensemble Intercontemporain in 1984 and at the Paris Opera in 1985. Very quickly, he left the orchestra for an international soloist career with performances in major international venues with world renowned orchestras (Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris, Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, NHK Tokyo, Russian State Orchestra, …) and alongside the world’s finest musicians such as Benny Goodman, Isaac Stern, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Martha Argerich, Yuri Bashmet, Gidon Kremer, Yehudi Menuhin, Yo-Yo Ma or Emmanuel Ax.
He rapidly oriented himself towards orchestra conducting, while pursuing his performance skills which have won him a unique role as world-famous clarinetist. After founding the Orchestre de Chambre d’Alsace, Paul Meyer became in great demand as conductor. He studied with Charles Bruck at the Pierre Monteux School in Maine, John Carewe (professor of Sir Simon Rattle and Daniel Harding amongst others) whom he assisted at the Northern Junior Philharmonic, and enhanced his conducting skills working over several seasons and taking advantage of the advices of major conductors such as Marek Janowski he assisted at the Philharmonic of Radio France, Emmanuel Krivine and Myung-Whun Chung.
Appointed Associate Conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra by Myung-Whun Chung in 2006, he conducted there over three seasons and contributed to the establishment of an Orchestral Academy aimed at preparing young musicians for the orchestral discipline.
In 2009, he was appointed Principal Conductor of the Kosei Orchestra in Tokyo, with which he explored contemporary repertoire and gave concerts in Tokyo (Tokyo Opera City), as well as touring in Japan and abroad.
In 2018, he became Principal Conductor of the Mannheim Chamber Orchestra.
His recognition as a conductor, based on a profound understanding and experience of orchestral work, rapidly led him to conduct major chamber and symphony orchestras amongst which the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse, Orchestre de l’Opéra de Marseille, Orchestre de Bordeaux, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre de Bretagne, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Orchestre National d’Ile de France, Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux, Hamburger Sinfoniker, Staatskapelle Weimar, Würtemberg Philharmonie, Schleswig Holstein Festival Orchestra, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Münchener Kammerorchester, Tonkünstler Niederösterreich, Brussels Philharmonic, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonika, Sinfonia Varsovia, Prague Philharmonic, Belgrade Philharmonic, Zürcher Kammerorchester, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish Symphony Orchestra, Stockholm Chamber Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Taipeh Symphonic Orchestra, Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Omega Ensemble, Orquesta Filarmonica de Bogota, Orquesta Sinfonica de Sao Paulo …
Paul’s recording career consists of over 50 works with major labels such as DGG, Sony, RCA, EMI, Virgin, Alpha and Aeon which have won numerous awards (Fono-Forum, Diapason d’Or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, Gramophon, Grammy Awards). New releases include recordings of Cello Abbey as conductor with Cellist Nadège Rochat and the Staatskappelle Weimar, Spohr and Weber Clarinet Concertos with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (play and conduct) and Thierry Escaich’s Clarinet Concerto with Orchestre National de l’Opéra de Lyon and conductor Alexandre Bloch. Passionate with chamber music, he has founded the ensemble Les Vents Français and is co-founder with Eric Le Sage and Emmanuel Pahud of the Festival International de Musique de Salon de Provence.
Paul Meyer has been awarded France’s highest cultural honour, the Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, for his contribution to the Arts in France and throughout the world.
Eric Le Sage
is established as the representative of the French piano school, regularly boasted for his very subtle sound, his real sense of structure and poetic phrasing. Already when he was 20 years old, the Financial Times had described him as “an extremely cultivated disciple of the great French tradition of Schumann piano”. In 2010, die Zeit, praised his “ideal French piano aesthetics and clarity”
Eric is invited to perform as a soloist with orchestras at the highest level such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Saint-Louis Symphony Orchestra, Berlin’s Konzerthaus Orchester, SWR Symphony Orchestra, Bremer Philharmoniker, Dresden Philharmonie, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Göteborg Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Münchner Kammer Orchester, Dresdner Philharmonie, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, with conductors like Edo de Waart, Stéphane Denève, Pablo Gonzalez, Louis Langrée, Fabien Gabel, Michel Plasson, Alexander Liebreich, Kazuki Yamada, Alondra de la Parra, Lionel Bringuier, François Leleux, Michael Stern, Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, Sir Simon Rattle and Yannick Nézet-Seguin.
Eric has performed recitals and chamber music concerts in major venues across the world such as Wigmore Hall, Suntory Hall, Carnegie Hall, Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle, Paris Philharmonie, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Radio France, Cologne Philharmonie, Essen Philharmonie, Dresden Philharmonie, Frankfurt’s Alte Oper, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Schwartzenberg’s Schubertiade, Salzburg Mozarteum, Ludwigsburg Festival, Prague’s Rudolfinium, Taipei National Concert Hall, Konzerthaus Vienna, Dublin’s celebrity series, Edinburgh International Festival, Düsseldorf Tonhalle, la Roque d’Anthéron Festival, Potsdam Sanssouci, Brussels’ Bozar, Berlin’s Boulezsaal, Konzerthaus Berlin, Berlin Philharmonie.
In 2010 Eric Le Sage released Robert Schumann’s complete works for piano for the composer’s 200th anniversary. He has been invited to perform in this context in major venues around the world. These recordings for the French label Alpha (Outhere) were awarded in the summer 2010 the very prestigious Jahrespreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik. Reviewers from the world over have written elated comments about what is already cited as a reference in the history of Schumann recordings. Following this successful project, Eric Le Sage recorded later a bundle of 5 CDs dedicated to Gabriel Fauré’s complete works for chamber music with piano, all covered with awards.
In 2018 he started recording Brahms’ complete chamber music cycle for B-Records. Volume 5 of this cycle was released in 2019. The same year he released Fauré’s Nocturnes on Alpha, an album which was critically acclaimed internationally, and he also recorded Schumann’s Dichterliebe with tenor Julian Pregardien on Alpha (2019).
A true chamber music lover, Eric regularly plays with friends like Emmanuel Pahud, Paul Meyer, Quatuor Ebène, François Leleux, les Vents Français, François Salque, Lise Berthaud, Daishin Kashimoto, Olivier Latry and many other musicians.
Most of Eric Le Sage’s recordings on RCA-BMG, Naïve, EMI and now Alpha were highly acclaimed and awarded the most sought after awards in France: Diapason d’Or de l’Année, Choc de l’Année Classica, Choc du Monde de la Musique, Grand Prix du Disque, Recording of the Month in Fono Forum and Gramophone, Victoire de la Musique.
Born in Aix en Provence, Eric Le Sage was the winner of major international competitions such as Porto in 1985 and the Robert Schumann competition in Zwickau, in 1989. He was also a prize-winner at Leeds International competition the same year, which allowed him to perform under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle.
