Minami Yoshida 1st Violin
Information
Facts
Born in Tenri, Japan
Member since 25.08.2025
Biography
Minami Yoshida grew up in a family steeped in classical music, and was inspired to ask her parents for lessons as a five-year-old when she saw a glamorous woman on television playing the violin. “Actually a very childish reason,” the musician remembers, “but it set me on my path.” Minami Yoshida quickly realized that she had found the right instrument.
She began her training at the Toho Gakuen Music High School from 2014 to 2017, where she studied with Koichiro Harada. From 2018, she studied at the New England Conservatory of Music with Miriam Fried and completed both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees by 2024. During her studies at the New England Conservatory of Music, she also pursued a double schooling and completed the Artist Diploma programs at both the Toho Gakuen School of Music and the Tokyo College of Music. In 2024 she continued her studies at the Kronberg Academy with Mihaela Martin, supported by the Georg and Janet Breuer Patronage. The musical talent of the Japanese violinist has also been supported by several other institutions, including as a recipient of the Dean’s Scholarship and the Ezoe Memorial Foundation Recruit Scholarship.
At the age of 12, Minami Yoshida made her solo debut with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra. Since then, she has collaborated with renowned orchestras in Japan, Europe, and the United States. Since August 2025, she has been a member of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s first violin section. In her free time, she enjoys working with video and photo editing and composing.
Minami Yoshida plays a violin by Zosimo Bergonzi, kindly made available to her on loan by the Ryuji Ueno Foundation and by Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative.
Awards
Second Prize at the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition (2025)
Sixth Prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition (2024)
Third Prize and Special Prize at the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis (2022)
Prizewinner at the International Joseph Joachim Violin Competition (2021)
Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant Award (2019)
Third Prize at the Concours musical international de Montréal (2016)
Tokiko Iwatani Award of the Foundation for Youth (2016)
First Prize at the Music Competition of Japan (2014)
“I never dreamed of becoming simply a soloist or a violinist. My goal was to become a ‘true musician’ – equally at home as a soloist, in chamber music, and in the orchestra. With my appointment to the Berliner Philharmoniker, this dream has come true. It comes with great responsibility: to uphold the orchestra’s high artistic standards and to consciously help shape its collective sound. At the same time, it offers me the extraordinary opportunity of entering into musical dialogue with some of the most inspiring musicians in the world.”
