How family ties helped orchestra pull off a dual concertmaster coup
After 12 years as Concertmaster for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, world renowned violin soloist Natsuko Yoshimoto has joined the Queensland Symphony Orchestra alongside the famed Warwick Adeney to move closer to her family.
Queensland Symphony Orchestra's Concertmasters Warwick Adeney and Natsuko Yoshimoto (Image: Supplied)
She joins her husband Imants Larsens, the principal viola for Queensland Symphony Orchestra since 2019, and their young children in Brisbane after having lived between the two cities for over a decade.
Originally from Japan, Yoshimoto has been playing the violin since the age of three, studying at prestigious institutions such as the Yehudi Menuhin School and Royal Northern College of Music in England under Lord Menuhin and Wen Zhou Li.
Known for practicing for more than six hours per day, Yoshimoto is a self-described violin nerd who ‘loves playing and practicing’.
She has won accolades from all over the world including the Gold Medal in both the prestigious 1994 Shell/London Symphony Orchestra Competition and the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa Award and the Iwaki Award.
Warwick Adeney has been the respected Concertmaster for the Queensland Symphony Orchestra for years and said it was an honour for himself and the Orchestra to welcome Yoshimoto.
Warwick Adeney (left) and Natsuko Yoshimoto (right), co-concertmasters for Queensland Symphony Orchestra (Image: Supplied)
“Something that [Yoshimoto] can really bring is the idea of unconducted concerts which we are going to do soon. Natsuko is particularly good at this so that is something too look forward to for the future,” said Adeney.
“I really hope we have many years of developing ideas, playing, and working together.”
Yoshimoto said it will be interesting working alongside Adeney because they are very different players with different approaches.
“We both come from different perspectives and ideas, so I’m hoping that it broadens and enriches the Orchestra.
“I certainly don’t want to come into this Orchestra and impose or take away anything that [Adeney] has given to it. It’s really about balancing each other and supporting each other’s roles.
“The role of Concertmaster is critical because it is the conduit between the conductor and the rest of the Orchestra.
“The way we produce the sound, and how we place our bow on the string, allows the Orchestra to respond more precisely than watching the Conductor because there isn’t that confusion of different kinds of interpretation,” said Yoshimoto.
