Midori Goto, strings professor and department chair, and the Jascha Heifetz Chair in Violin, is an internationally-renowned musician whose performing career has spanned 25 years. She earned her Master’s degree in Psychology from New York University in 2005, and her first teaching position was at the Manhattan School of Music, where she was on violin faculty from 2001-2006. Midori has been renowned not only for her skills onstage, but also for her devotion to developing new educational and community-based outreach programs. She has taken an active role in availing musical opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds through her three foundations: Midori & Friends and Partners in Performance in the U.S.,and Music Sharing in Japan; as well as in annual, individually-designed residency projects with youth orchestras and universities.

 

The 2008-2009 academic year marks Midori’s third as a full-time faculty member at Thornton and her second as Chair of the Strings Department. One of her first initiatives at USC was to create the Midori Center for Community Engagement, which aims to train and educate future generations of musicians about the importance of connecting with audiences outside of the concert hall. In the classroom, Midori employs a hands-on philosophy with her students; she finds that making music together is one of the best ways for everyone – including the teacher – to learn. She firmly believes in an interdisciplinary approach to music education, in which the lessons go beyond instrument instruction to enhance students’ growth and development as musicians.

For more information, please visit Midori's website.