Akiko Suwanai

Until 2019 she played the 1714 Dolphin Stradivarius, on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation. After it was returned she received the "Charles Reade" Guarneri del Gesù on loan from Japanese collector Ryuji Ueno.

Akiko Suwanai studied at Juilliard School, Toho Gakuen School of Music and Berlin University of the Arts. Training under Toshiya Eto, Dorothy DeLay and Cho-liang Lin is recorded. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are classical music. Distinctions recorded are 1st prize of the Tchaikovsky International Competition.

• Name — Akiko Suwanai • Native Name — 諏訪内 晶子 • Born — 7 February 1972 • Origin — Tokyo, Japan • Instrument — Violin • Genre — Classical • Occupation — Violinist • Years Active — 1990 – Present • Label — Decca Records born February 7, 1972 is a Japanese classical violinist.

Suwanai was born in Tokyo, Japan. At the age of 2 and a half, she showed an interest in sound, so her parents took her to a nearby violin class, where she first encountered the instrument. She began learning the violin at age 3, starting with weekly lessons. From age 4, her lessons increased to twice a week, where she remembered looking forward to each one. On summer break of her first year in elementary school, her family moved to Machida City, west of Tokyo where she started attending a music school from the second grade. In 1979, Suwanai entered the private Toho Gakuen School of Music’s affiliated ‘Music Class for Children’, a specialised and competitive program across Japan for gifted students. During her childhood, due to her father’s job transfer, she relocated to Nagoya for a period where she studied and was tutored under Shinji Nishizaki, the father of violinist Takako Nishizaki. When she was 14, she studied under the violinist Toshiya Eto. During her middle school years, she won the Japan Student Music Competition (Middle School Division).