Korine Fujiwara

Montana native Korine Fujiwara is a founding member of the Carpe Diem String Quartet, a devoted and sought-after chamber musician, and a gifted composer and arranger.

She is a founding member of the Marble Cliff Chamber Players, based in Columbus and Delaware, Ohio, and performs annually with the Snake River Chamber Players in Keystone, Colorado. She has also been heard throughout the Northwest United States on public radio as a performer at the Olympic Music Festival in Seattle, Washington with members of the Philadelphia String Quartet. Critics have described her performances as “engaging” and “with finesse and perfection.” She has been invited to participate in numerous international music festivals, including the MidAmerica Chamber Music Festival, the Victoria International Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Focus! Festival of 20th Century Music at Lincoln Center, and the Summergarden Festival at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, where she collaborated with composer John Cage. She is a sought-after and well-respected adjudicator and teacher and served as an Artist/Teacher-in-residence with the Icelandic Youth Orchestra in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Korine has received multiple commissions including works for chamber ensembles, chorus, concerti, and music for modern dance. Her work has been heard throughout the United States, Europe, and in the Far East, including performances at Suntory Hall, Tokyo; the University of Leeds, UK; the Olympic Music Festival, Washington; Musikfest, Pennsylvania; the Snake River Music Festival, Colorado; and the Arts Northwest Conference in Seattle, Washington, as well as in numerous collaborations with the cutting-edge dance company Columbus Dance Theatre, Ohio.

Her musical language encompasses a wide range of influences, including classical, folk, jazz, and rock and roll. Korine grew up in a family of traditional folk artists; at family gatherings, relatives played and improvised music together. This early experience had a profound impact on her musical journey. Her works often contain fragments, melodies and sounds reminiscent of this family tradition, combined with the classical language she has absorbed through subsequent studies. Her diverse artistic collaborations have helped to infuse her work with a rhythmic power and intensity.

Named as one of Strings Magazine’s “25 Contemporary Composers to Watch”, critics have remarked of Ms Fujiwara’s music, “The ear is forever tickled by beautifully judged music that manages to be sophisticated and accessible at the same time,” “Contains a very rare attribute in contemporary classical music: happiness.” (Fanfare Magazine); “She knows how to exploit all the resources of string instruments alone and together; her quartet writing is very democratic, with solos for everyone; her solo violin writing is fiendishly difficult.” (Strings Magazine).

Ms. Fujiwara is a gifted performer on both the violin and viola, and holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Northwestern University, where she studied with Joseph Fuchs and Myron Kartman, respectively. Her other mentors include Harvey Shapiro, Robert Mann, and Joel Krosnik. Ms. Fujiwara served for many years on the music faculty of Ohio Wesleyan University and is in great demand for master classes and clinics throughout the United States. Korine’s students have been accepted into the performance programs of such institutions as Indiana University, Cincinnati College Conservatory, and Northwestern University to continue their musical studies. She has received many awards and prizes, including the Hjalmer and Emma Kivekas Award, the Raymond Cerf Memorial Scholarship in Violin, and the Fetzer Prize for outstanding performance. Ms. Fujiwara is a member of the music honorary society Pi Kappa Lambda.

Korine began her orchestral career with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and served as a principal player and soloist with the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus. She is also a former member of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, where she held the position of acting assistant principal second violin. Korine performs on a viola made for her in 2004 by Kurt Widenhouse and is fortunate to have acquired contemporary bows created for her by two of today’s finest bow makers, Ole Kanestrom and Charles Espey.