Practically every concertgoer around knows about the violinist Midori, her phenomenal New York Philharmonic debut at 11, and her even more PR-worthy feat at 14. That's when she played safely through Leonard Bernstein's Serenade at a Philharmonic concert in Central Park, despite breaking strings on two violins in a row. Fiddlers break strings all the time, but the combination of her age, her ability, and the surprise nature of the accident catapulted her to public attention around the world.

Yet Midori, now 38, has developed into a mature artist. Besides performing, she's created several nonprofits devoted to music and performance education. She teaches at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. She has a bachelor's degree in Psychology and Gender Studies from New York University, where she also took her master's in psychology. She was designated an official U.N. Messenger of Peace in 2007.

On Tuesday, Oct. 27, Midori and her usual recital partner, acclaimed pianist Robert McDonald, perform some big works for the Santa Fe Concert Association at the Lensic Performing Arts Center. Hindemith's E-flat Major sonata, Brahms' G-Major sonata, De Falla's Suite populaire espagnole, and Ravel's Tzigane are all slated. Midori will also play Bach's G-Minor sonata for solo violin.

Midori is a musician who maintains a major online presence through her Web sites, Facebook postings, and other e-forums. Appropriately, Pasatiempo communicated with her by e-mail about that aspect of her life and work.

Pasatiempo: You grew up in the information age; you've used computers a long time; you have different Web sites; you blog. Do you manage these yourself?

Midori: My main Web site [gotomidori.com] was built six or so years ago. The landing page and interior structure were designed by a Web design firm, but we handle the updates internally. Of course, there are several very talented people who help maintain and update the site, but the majority of the content originates from my ideas.

My goal is for the Web site to be informative, interesting, and imaginative; I wanted it to be an in-depth resource beyond the usual artist's bio, discography, and tour schedule. Guest columns and staff contributions give the site additional dimension and flavor.

Pasa: You have three versions available: English, Japanese, and German.

Midori: The three language pages were launched simultaneously in their current format, although the Japanese page just underwent a redesign. I perform in Germany quite often, so it made sense to include a German version of my home page. I am lucky that the firm that represents me in Germany is willing to write and translate the site's content for me. All articles are written in English, as that is the only one of the three that I can actually write in!

Pasa: How about social networking sites such as Facebook?

Midori: The Web site is still my first thought when I want to share something with the public; most recently, for instance, I posted an essay on the natural disasters in Southeast Asia. Now I have a fan page on Facebook, which seems to be an equally effective means of sharing news online. After talking with my students and other colleagues, it seems that one needs to have a Facebook or Twitter account to have any sort of Internet presence nowadays. Each serves a different purpose, so I am open to exploring new technologies.

Pasa: How do you maintain a balance between the musical side of your life, the technological side, and the personal side?

Midori: As my schedule varies wildly from day to day, each task gets done whenever the time is available. The most important routine, naturally, is my teaching schedule at USC;
I want to be a reliable presence in my students' lives as much as possible. Requirements for my own practice schedule are more flexible, although I aim to get in a minimum of three quality hours each day — but more like five or six hours a day, as an average, beyond warm-up, rehearsals, and concerts.

Waiting in airports and on airplanes does present the perfect situation for brainstorming and writing for the Web site; catching up on e-mails, press interviews, and university paperwork; or taking a break with a great novel. I also enjoy knitting and crocheting to pass the time before boarding; it's much easier to hold a ball of yarn while standing in line than it is to type on a laptop!

Pasa: Education and outreach are vital to you, as shown by the nonprofit groups you've founded.

Midori: Midori & Friends was incorporated in 1992 in New York; Partners in Performance in 2003, also in New York. Both organizations' offices are in Manhattan. I have a third nonprofit organization in Tokyo called Music Sharing, which was established in 2002.

In addition to playing in the schools a few times a year for Midori & Friends, I work mostly behind the scenes, which is what I love. This means that I participate in the designing of the curriculum, the guidebooks, programs and policies, and so on. My official board title is founder and president emeritus of Midori & Friends. For Partners in Performance and Music Sharing, I am the board president.

Pasa: Were you interested in the written literature and history of music when you were growing up, or did that come later?

Midori: Learning about the composers themselves interested me very much as a child — where and when they lived, and even how they died. As most children would be, I imagine, I was interested in the context of their works; was this piece written during war, or when the composer was old, or when he moved to another country, and so on. From this basic and somewhat rudimentary approach, my intellectual curiosity grew to more mature music history and theory. Writing and research have always been enjoyable and deeply satisfying for me, and crafting my own program notes serves as yet another element in my interpretation to a given work.

Pasa: You have degrees in psychology and gender studies. Do you stay in touch in those professional circles and journals, and did you take a licentiate for psychotherapy?

Midori: To formally study psychology in college satisfied my long-standing fascination with how the human mind works and the reasons behind our behavior. I was most interested in clinical psychology, which involved learning about mental distress and psychotherapy, as well as in developmental psychology. Psychology has elements of both science and mystery, a highly stimulating combination for the student working to understanding the subject. I am not licensed to practice psychology, although I continue to read the journals and study the subject informally.

Pasa: One last question. YouTube — for or against?

Midori: YouTube can be a valuable online resource, I think, although it isn't perfectly managed or entirely proper/legal when it comes to matters of copyright or privacy.

details
Violinist Midori and pianist Robert McDonald, presented by the Santa Fe Concert Association
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27
Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St.
$24-$72, student discounts available; 988-1234