Aiko Goto, Australian Chamber Orchestra Violinist

Notes from a Humble Soul

She is a short woman. So short, in fact, she plays on a special brick-high platform when in concert.
Her performances, however, reach great heights - full of life and energy.
Aiko Goto, the only Japanese violinist in the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) lives in a quiet area of Cremorne, overlooking Sydney Harbour. Her flat is modest, with only a few items of furniture scattered about her lounge room. Numerous pot plants on her veranda add to the serenity of the harbour scenery. From Goto's kitchen, you can see the ferry wharf that connects her home with Circular Quay, where the ACO stages its rehearsals.

Meeting Goto, you soon appreciate why she chose Cremorne for her humble abode. Convenience is one thing of course, but it is her personality that fits so well into this quiet, harbour-side suburb.

Her schedule is not so easy-going. Goto regularly travels the world, performing up to 170 times a year with the ACO along with additional solo recitals and side projects with other orchestras. Since her solo debut in 1994, she has played in Tokyo's Bunka Kaikan, at the International Refugee Fund Charity attended by the Japanese Royal Family and for the Japanese Embassy in Canberra. Yet from Goto's humble demeanour you would never know she is a graduate of one of the world's premier music conservatories, New York City's The Julliard School of Music. Nor, if you saw her kayaking across the peaceful waters of The Spit, could you guess that Goto annually plays under the direction of internationally acclaimed conductor Seiji Ozawa.

Goto speaks with humility. She chose her words carefully as she recalled her first encounter with the violin. "I was three. My cousins from Himeji who I was close with were taking violin lessons, which meant that whenever they had to go to class, I was left out. Because I was so keen on joining them, I begged my parents to let me have lessons too."

Since no-one in her immediate family was familiar with the violin, Goto's musical career began by taking piano lessons alongside her older brother. Apparently she protested - Goto would go to class, but not sit up at the piano and actually play it.

"According to my parents, I used to roll around on the floor in defiance of being sent to piano lessons and not violin lessons," Goto says with a laugh. "It was also because I wanted to learn something different to my brother. So eventually they had no choice but to let me have violin lessons."

When she began, it was blissful. Goto says she has also been lucky with her teachers, not only in her early years but throughout her career. She credits her improvement to these people who made violin lessons so enjoyable for her.

Encouraged to sit the entry exam for Toho Gakuen School of Music, Goto was accepted into one of Japan's most prestigious music institutions. Toho Gakuen has produced many world-renowned classical musicians, including Seiji Ozawa. It was during Goto's third year at university that she came to a turning point of her life, which eventually led her to go abroad.

In 1990, Goto won an overseas scholarship to perform with other accomplished musicians at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado. While the scholarship was an honour and an achievement in itself, she was shocked by the technique, expressionism and individuality of the festival musicians.

"There were all these students from around the world and many from the Julliard School who had amazing skills at such a young age,'' she says. "I was so overwhelmed! Of course there were amazing talents back at home as well, but the sheer scale and number of them at the festival and the fact that they were all so young just blew me away. I spent almost every night of the first week crying from the shock."

There was a clear difference in the teaching method as well. While instruction in Japan tended to be abstract, teachers at the festival were direct and unreserved in pointing out what Goto was missing in her music. Despite having attended the top music school in Japan and being part of an elite group of musicians, Goto says she was made painfully aware of just how much she could improve as a violinist.

A year later, Goto returned to the same festival on the same scholarship. Teachers who had previously pointed out her playing faults saw remarkable improvement. The Julliard School of Music Professor Dorothy DeLay, who many regard as the most influential violin teacher of modern America, and Professor Masao Kawasaki, paid particular attention. Recognising Goto's potential and hard work, they encouraged her to sit the entry exam for the famed New York school.

Passing the exam after rigorous practice and study, Goto was awarded a scholarship to study with DeLay and Kawasaki. Once again, everything was a challenge for Goto. Surrounded by the world's best violinists in a competitive environment, Goto tried not to compare herself too much with others.

"There used to be a Tower Records right next to the school and when you went to the classical section of the store, you often found CDs released by people you practised with at school!" she says. "Because I was playing alongside professionals, I tried not to compare myself with them. And the teachers were very good at not doing that either. They made sure they found something special within each and every individual student and were devoted to bringing that out of us. I think it was because the teachers were so good at fostering each student's individual skills that I was able to continue for three years without giving up."

Graduating in 1994, Goto was presented that same year with the Recital Debut Award by Artist International in New York. The following year she made her New York recital debut at The Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, one of the most prestigious venues for a classical musician in the United States.

Many graduates from the Julliard School had clear career aspirations. Goto, on the other hand, was more concerned with refining and perfecting her skills. She recalls being told by her teacher Kawasaki to think about her future and how she ought to make a living from playing. "I must have been rather carefree about my future at the time!" she says with a laugh.

Having performed at numerous concerts and festivals in Europe, Japan and America, Goto returned to New York's Carnegie Hall in 1998 to audition for the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

"The first time I ever heard the ACO play was the evening before my audition,'' she says. Goto had been in her seventh year in the US, and considering making her way home to Japan, when she came across an advertisement for the ACO in a classical music magazine. The thought of playing in a chamber orchestra much smaller in size to that of a symphony orchestra greatly appealed to her.

"By the time the ACO had actually come to New York, I had pretty much told everyone around me that I was moving back to Japan,'' Goto says. "But when I heard their performance on the night before my audition, I was so moved by their music and teamwork that I was excited about performing in front of them the next day."

Goto remembers how friendly and lively the ACO members were during their performance. "Because the audition was held in front of the ACO members, I played with a sense of gratitude toward them from the night before,'' she says. Two weeks later, when she had already sent half of her possessions back to Japan, Goto received a fax. She had been accepted into the ACO.
Although initially anxious on her arrival in Australia, Goto was made warmly welcome by her new orchestra colleagues. "The members were so kind to me, maybe because they knew that I had no one to depend on when I first came here,'' she says. "Whenever there was a problem, everyone showed concern and offered their help."

The Australian attitude towards music was somewhat different to that of the Americans as well, with a serious passion for the music and dedication to playing professionally. "I was amazed at their professionalism. The orchestra never gave anything less than 100 per cent at every single performance. I also learnt how important it was for me to enjoy playing as part of the orchestra myself if the audience was to truly enjoy the music,'' she says.

"When I first started, I could only just keep up with the ensemble. But as I got used to the environment and started looking around at the other members during performances, I noticed that everyone was playing with a smile on their face and making eye contact with each other. I think that's something unique to the ACO.''

Playing to achieve musical harmony with the audience is something special to the ACO, Goto says. Unlike other orchestras she has played with, the ACO places strong emphasis on getting "in sync'' with the audience as a whole. Playing well as an individual is of course important, but the group playing as one with the audience is cherished above all. On the rare occasion when Goto feels they've achieved such perfection, she finds the excitement keeps her awake at night.

Apart from her ACO membership, Goto says she has been greatly honoured to play annually for the Saito Kinen Orchestra in Matsumoto, Japan. The orchestra was formed as a tribute to Saito Hideo, one of the founders of the Toho Gakuen School of Music and a great musical educator of modern Japan. The orchestra, conducted by Seiji Ozawa, is comprised of the best Japanese musicians from around the world and is considered to be one of the world's top existing ensembles. Goto, who has been invited to join the orchestra every year since 1995, says she is grateful for the opportunity to perform with the best and most talented Japanese musicians.

Goto's standing as an elite violinist has come with incredible effort and hardship, however she does not attribute her success to personal endeavour. Goto maintains that she has simply been lucky with her teachers and the people she has met along the way. Having lived in foreign countries and away from her family ever since leaving Toho Gakuen Music School, Goto is grateful for those relationships, especially with the ACO members who have supported her in the past eight years.

When asked about future plans, Goto says she is working on a self-produced solo recital to be held later in the year. It is an event she has organised annually in recent years. For Goto, performing without the orchestra is a way of connecting with her audience at a different level.

"Because there'll be a price on the tickets to cover the venue and the pianist, it inevitably becomes work, but for me it's more like an extension of a hobby,'' she says. "It's a lot of work, but I think I do it because I look forward to enjoying the music with the audience. I love performing in front of Australian crowds because people really get into it when they are enjoying it.

"One day, I'd like to invite some of my musician friends from all over the world as guests to hold a small-scale music festival in Sydney."