TEDxTokyo 2016 Performer Shiori Abe

At the age of ten, Shiori Abe started attending a new school and met the violin for the first time. She immediately began learning the instrument, and went on to win the TBS Child Music Contest as well as the prestigious NHK National School Music Contest. During her high school years, she played on the streets and at outdoor music festivals. Along the way, she began to perform in the hope that she could convey that the violin is not exclusively for people in high society but an instrument for everyone, and that playing it is something they can engage in during daily life. When she does live concerts, she says, she can feel the reactions and moods of the audience within her. Shiori now offers violin lessons (“Ginza el Majesta”) to help middle-aged men become “cooler and nicer.” She is wholly devoted to improving the violin’s popularity, not only as an artist but also as a conductor. Amazingly enough, this talented young woman was also a finalist in the Miss World Japan 2014 contest.