Past Residencies
Quad City / Alaska / Duluth / Des Moines / Fargo-Moorhead / Albuquerque / South Dakota / Vermont / Montana / Winston-Salem / Elgin / Mobile
Fargo-Moorhead, North Dakota/Minnesota: February 2010
Read Midori and Moni's blog about their residency in Fargo-Moorhead: ORP Observations.
The article below appeared as an editorial in The Forum newspaper. It has been posted here with the author's permission.
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A magical, inspirational visit from the extraordinary Midori
Reading violinist Midori's press clippings for a period of weeks is to read newspapers around the world.
by Jane Ahlin; 21 February 2010
Reading violinist Midori's press clippings for a period of weeks is to read newspapers around the world. Begin the last week of December 2009 on the other side of the globe in Mongolia. Move on to January 2010, and Louisiana by way of Southern California. Go on to Princeton, N.J., Leavenworth, Wash., San Francisco, London, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Porto, Portugal; be sure to note that right between San Francisco and London, Fargo-Moorhead is listed on her schedule.
Midori's visit to Fargo-Moorhead on Feb.10-14 was whirlwind, intense, inspiring, exhilarating - nothing short of flat-out amazing. With her was her graduate student Moni Simeonov, a violinist who came to his studies with her at the University of Southern California from Bulgaria by way of Yale.
Wonderfully talented and delightfully unpretentious, Moni connected with students of all ages, charming and motivating them at the same time. (The superstar is known round the world by her first name. While here, her rising-star pupil was known by his first name as well.)
Moni kept a blog on the various activities he and Midori participated in each day, including "Super String Day," which brought together 700 young string players, mostly from the area but some from Duluth, Minn., St. Louis Park, Minn., and Aberdeen, S.D. Moni's pleasure in the day was clear in his words about the culminating "mass performance." He wrote, "There was a 96-year-old violinist from the FMSO on stage next to two 6-year-old girls. Along with them were playing about 700 more violinists, including the Maestro and Midori. It was quite a sight and a sound."
He also wrote, "Volunteers were wearing orange shirts, and the students had blue ones. I am pretty sure Midori and I ended up signing all the blue shirts in the facility."
The flavor of those remarks hints at the magic that sets Midori apart from most superstars. She not only is committed to sharing her giftedness through performance, but she also works hard to support and improve the accessibility of music education and musical experience across America and around the world. The "Orchestra Residencies Program" that brought her to Fargo-Moorhead is one of the five philanthropic programs she initiated and supports with time, talent and personal resources.
With a schedule that demands such discipline and passion, Midori's life is extraordinary. Asked in an interview (published on her Web site) about what she considers to be home, Midori answered, "Home, to me, is teaching; the comfort and internal alignment I feel while teaching lets me know that where I am is where I want to be. It is no small coincidence that my primary physical residence is in the city where I spend the most hours teaching." In her interview with Forum reporter J. Shane Mercer, she also said, "I enjoy being part of the community. I enjoy being part of society."
The caliber of Midori's performance with the Fargo Moorhead Symphony Orchestra was unparalleled in the history of our community. Still, it's the echoes of her inspiration and generous spirit in interacting with professional musicians and student musicians alike that will continue to enrich this wonderful place where we live for a long time to come.
In his blog, Moni mentioned "an older gentleman" who was sitting next to him in the violin section for the FMSO performance with Midori. The man said, "It means the world to these kids that Midori is here. I remember (Jascha) Heifetz coming to my town in South Carolina when I was 12. I remember like it was yesterday."
Moni added, "I hope we have been able to make a difference for the young musicians of Fargo-Moorhead. I am definitely having the time of my life, and it seems as if they are, too."