Ken Aiso is internationally recognized as one of today’s most musical and versatile violinists. Mr. Aiso is praised not only for his singularly beautiful tone, but also for the unique atmosphere of intimacy he evokes as he draws in his audiences.

A prizewinner of the Long-Thibaud Concours in Paris and the International Music Competition of Japan in Tokyo, Mr. Aiso has appeared as a soloist in televised and broadcast concerts with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Tokyo Symphony. As a recitalist, he has performed widely in Europe, the United States and Japan with appearances at prestigious concert halls including Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Rachmaninov Hall in Moscow, Salle Pleyel in Paris, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. In 2003 he was honoured to appear as soloist before the Emperor and Empress of Japan, and in 2004 he founded the critically acclaimed AISO Quartet.

Mr. Aiso has been invited to perform at renowned International festivals including Menuhin, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh, and IMS Prussia Cove, and has collaborated with Steven Isserlis, Nelson Goerner, Lynn Harrell, David Leisner, Akikazu Nakamura and John Surman amongst others. More recent work, in giving masterclasses and working with special needs children as well as recitals, has taken him to Georgia, Moldova, Serbia and Kazakhstan. He has been a violin faculty member at Montecito Summer Music Festival in Santa Barbara, California since 2008, and also takes violin performance classes at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he was elected an Associate in 2005.

He received his musical education in Tokyo, Dallas and London studying with Chikashi Tanaka, Eduard Schmieder and Erich Gruenberg as well as receiving tuition in masterclasses from Ruggiero Ricci, Ida Haendel, Ivry Gitlis, Abram Shtern and Ferenc Rados. His empathy with contemporary music has resulted in several commissions and premieres of works by Alasdair Nicolson, Jonathan Lloyd, Yui Kakinuma, Paul Chihara, Richard Michael and Howard Moody.

Visit Ken Aiso at www.kenaiso.net