Kunito (Kuni) Nishitani flew here from his home in Tokyo expressly to perform the Khachaturian Concerto with us.
He began playing the violin at 5. Through an exchange program, his mother had become friends with Pamela Jacobsen, a first violinist in the Beaverton Chamber Symphony, predecessor of the BSO. When he visited here as a teenager, Pamela arranged lessons for him with Catherine Noll, a member of the Oregon Symphony, and introduced him to the Beaverton Chamber Symphony’s music director, Charles Encell. In 2002, at the age of 19, with Dr. Encell conducting, Kuni played the Mendelssohn concerto, to a standing ovation. He’s returned since then to play the Bruch and Glazunov concerti and most recently the Lalo Symphony Espanole.
Largely due to his 2002 debut, Nishitani won scholarships to PSU and NYU, where he earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees respectively. He has appeared as a violin soloist and concertmaster in the US, receiving high praise for the Japan-US: 150 years of friendship celebration concert by Japanese professional musicians and sponsored by the Consulate General of Japan in Portland. He also performed at the 2007 Rotary District 5100 Conference.
He has taught at New York University, Portland State University, and Rose City Music Academy in Portland. He was a member of the American Federation of Musicians and the College Music Society. Nishitani received training on the violin from Professor Chikashi Tanaka (Professor Emeritus, Geidai University of the Arts and concertmaster of the NHK Symphony Orchestra), PSU Professor Carol Sindell (who studied with Jascha Heifetz), and Professor Martin Beaver (the last 1st violinist in the Tokyo String Quartet and faculty member at The Colburn School, Yale, and NYU).
Nishitani moved back to Japan in July, 2010, and has been performing, recording, and teaching there. He has appeared on radio and TV. Currently, he teaches at the Tokyo American Club, Ikebukuro Community College, and the Kunito International Violin & Viola School as a faculty member, and substitutes at the American School in Japan. As the music director and formal conductor, he conducts the Shakuji International Orchestra, Shakuji International Youth Orchestra, and the orchestra of the Summer Music Festival at Ikebukuro Community College. In 2012 and 2013, he was invited as a guest conductor for the Kanto Plain Honor Orchestra.
Since 2010, over 60 private students have been studying with Nishitani, and some of his students have achieved admirable results in various auditions and competitions.