60 seconds with ... Sayaka Shoji

What is your earliest musical memory?
 Canzone concert in Siena, Italy...

What are your techniques to cope with performance anxiety?
I try to prepare.

What piece of advice do you wish someone had told you while you were training?
Breath normally... (? I don't know...)

How is performing in the East different to performing in the West?
Not much. I don't categorize things in general.

What has been your favorite venue to have performed in, in your career to date? 
Musikverein Vienna. 

How has winning the Paganini competition impacted your career?
It launched a professional life, yet I'm very lucky to have kept time for study & to live.

What is the make and model of your signature violin?
Stradivarius - "Recamier"

Which composer, contemporary or from the past, would you most like to have dinner with and why?
Ligeti, I'm fond of his music.

What kind of music do you listen to when relaxing?
Lieder by Schubert , Schumann... or keyboard music by Bach.  Barbara, Beatles, L Cohen, B Dylan, Björk ..... can't choose.

We hear Karaoke singing is huge in Japan, are you a fan?
My voice is too broken for karaoke.


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