“…deeply serious, temperamental and just plain gorgeous… always with a clear sense of the music’s rhythmic pulse and sonic perspectives.” – Toronto Globe & Mail

Praised by the Chicago Tribune as “a first-rate artist of real musical command, vitality, brilliance and intensity”, violinist Karen Gomyo continues to captivate audiences worldwide.

In May, 2018, Karen Gomyo performed the world premiere of Samuel Adams’ new Chamber Concerto, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen, to great critical acclaim. The work was written for her and commissioned by the CSO to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its MusicNow series.

Other 2018-2019 season highlights include debuts with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London conducted by Jakub Hrůša, the Royal Northern Sinfonia in England with Karina Canellakis, as well as returns to the San Francisco Symphony, Houston Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Dallas Symphony, and to the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln in Germany.

Last season she performed in recital at the Sydney Opera House, toured with Edo de Waart and the New Zealand Symphony, followed by performances with WASO Perth and the Tasmanian Symphony and stood in last minute to make her debut with Polish National Radio Symphony, performing the Britten, with an immediate re-invitation. She also returned to the St. Louis Symphony, the NACO, and the symphony orchestras of Milwaukee, Montreal, Cincinnati, Detroit and Indianapolis, among others.  She also performed in her annual chamber music project at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark.

Strongly committed to contemporary works, Karen Gomyo performed the North American premiere of Matthias Pintscher’s Concerto No. 2 “Mar’eh” with the composer conducting the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington D.C., as well as Peteris Vasks’ “Vox Amoris” with the Lapland Chamber Orchestra conducted by John Storgårds, and has collaborated in chamber music compositions with Jörg Widmann, Olli Mustonen, and Sofia Gubaidulina.

In recital and chamber music, Gomyo has performed in festivals throughout the U.S. and Europe. She recently toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and fellow guest artist, the mezzo-soprano Susan Graham. Her chamber music collaborators have included the late Heinrich Schiff, Christian Poltéra, Alisa Weilerstein, Julian Steckel, Leif Ove Andsnes, Olli Mustonen, Kathryn Stott, Christian Ihle Hadland, Antoine Tamestit, Isabelle Van Keulen, and Lawrence Power. In 2018 she appears at the Seattle Chamber Festival and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, Australia.

Karen Gomyo has worked with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Danish National Symphony, Bamberg Symphony, Stuttgart Radio Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, among many others, with such conductors as Sir Andrew Davis, Jaap van Zweden, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Leonard Slatkin, Neeme Järvi, David Robertson, David Zinman, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Louis Langrée, Thomas Dausgaard, James Gaffigan, Pinchas Zukerman, Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla, Hannu Lintu, Vasily Petrenko, Jakub Hrůša, Cristian Macaleru, Thomas Søndergård, and Mark Wigglesworth.

Gomyo participated as violinist, host, and narrator in a documentary film produced by NHK Japan about Antonio Stradivarius called “The Mysteries of the Supreme Violin”, which was broadcast worldwide on NHK WORLD.

Karen Gomyo is deeply interested in the Nuevo Tango music of Astor Piazzolla, and performs with Piazzolla’s longtime pianist and tango legend Pablo Zieglerand his partners Hector del Curto (bandoneon), Claudio Ragazzi (electric guitar) and Pedro Giraudo (double bass). She also performs regularly with the Finnish guitarist Ismo Eskelinen, with whom she has appeared at the Dresden and Mainz Festivals in Germany, and in recitals in Helsinki and New York.

Karen Gomyo plays on the “Aurora, exFoulis” Stradivarius violin of 1703 that was bought for her exclusive use by a private sponsor.

(updated June 2018)