When she was three, her mother asked her if she’d rather learn piano or violin. Kotowa Machida chose the violin but her great love for this instrument didn’t come until she was 15. After her music studies in Tokyo, she went to Frankfurt on a DAAD scholarship and became a pupil of Edith Peinemann. She attended numerous master classes, including that of Rainer Kussmaul. Before joining the Berliner Philharmoniker, she was Konzertmeister of the Württemberg Philharmonic in Reutlingen for four years. Kotowa Machida’s chamber-musical activities include membership in Ensemble Berlin, the Venus Ensemble, the Berlin Baroque Soloists and in the Berlin Klangforum with Wenzel Fuchs. The violinist, who enjoys reading, painting and solving sudoku puzzles, has one uncommon hobby: interior design and architecture. Performed at the Festival in 2012.