By Midori

Outreach seems to be a buzzword these days. Reaching out to children is still the most popular, whether by traveling to them or bringing them to the concert hall. But with increased variety of outreach and the resulting marketing appeal, it seems that these activities have tended to become watered-down, divorced from the music we hoped to bring to new audiences.

My first experience of outreach was as a listener in first grade in a Japanese public school: An orchestra came to perform in our school gymnasium. We all listened politely and applauded at the appropriate times. I don't remember much about the concert except that we felt very special to have the honorable guests. As an added bonus, my classmates stopped teasing me for playing the violin.

In the intervening years, I have set up three non-profit organizations, as well as several additional projects that can be described as "outreach," "reaching out," or "giving back." To my mind, they are not exactly any of the above; rather, setting up these organizations and projects has been my way of pursuing a goal, musical or nonmusical, that is important and meaningful to me. But why do you do it? Why so many? I have been asked these and similar questions countless times, as if what I am doing is so out-of-the-ordinary. I can only offer a simple answer: All my organizations and projects evolve out of a natural process.

I have had strong examples and role models of proactive determination from early childhood, even from before I started to play the violin. It was customary for members of my family to dedicate their efforts to a mission. Later, my best friend, Linda, demonstrated selfless sharing, and then I met Leonard Bernstein, who directed his enormous energy to creating forces to support causes he felt were important.

Midori & Friends was my first non-profit foundation, established in 1992, when I was just over 20, and focussing on music education. Initially schools in both New York and Japan were involved, but since 2001 the program's geographical scope has been narrowed to New York City, where the cultural heritage of the population is richly diverse, particularly with respect to musical traditions. I then created a second organization, Music Sharing, in Japan, to continue and expand upon the work done previously by the Tokyo office of Midori & Friends. Music Sharing has since developed in its own distinctive ways, one example being the inclusion of various kinds of traditional Japanese music.

What would they like, what do they need, and how can we provide it? This is how I always begin formulating program concepts for all my outreach activities. I never simply ask, What can we give them? Placing the focus on them makes an idea develop in a different way than from an egocentric perspective. This thought process eventually led me to found yet another non-profit organization, PiP (Partners in Performance), as well as three other ongoing projects, URP (University Residencies Program), ORP (Orchestra Residencies Program), and Total Experience.

PiP supports presenting organizations with small budgets by providing high-profile recitals or chamber music performances that they can turn into fundraising or community-relations events. The underlying ideas for URP and ORP came to me as my interactions with college and pre-collegiate level students outside metropolitan areas increased. Both programs are inter- and cross-disciplinary and were greatly influenced by my own college education at the Gallatin School at New York University. Through URP, I hope to encourage a closer collaboration across departments within a university, and through ORP, to provide opportunities for bonding and camaraderie between adult and affiliated youth orchestras.

Total Experience is an ongoing project in Japan, with the next cycle scheduled for Summer 2005. The basic concept of the Total Experience is to bring the community members of diverse interests and skills together to experience a chosen theme from as many perspectives as possible. A simple way to describe is to call it theme immersion. A recital that comes attached to the project is only a thread in a melding fabric of collaboration and connecting, and an examination of a theme.

My life has been immeasurably enriched by others, and as I gain experience of living, my curiosity about people only multiplies. In a nutshell, I have been energized by people who put me in touch with others, who inevitably have inspired ideas. As I act on them, my life is further invigorated. 

In addition to a full touring schedule, Midori serves on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music and the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, where she was appointed to the Jascha Heifetz Chair in 2004.

More information available on www.GoToMidori.com.