School Project Brings Meeting with Midori
12/13/05
SCHOOL PROJECT BRINGS MEETING WITH MIDORI
When Emily Giardino began working on a school project, little did she know that her research would result in a face-to-face meeting with the famed violinist, Midori. A fourth-grader at Lausanne School, Emily drew Midori's name out of a bag for her Social Studies project on famous immigrants. She began researching Midori on the internet and discovered Midori's website. Through the website, she was able to make contact with Midori's management team to request information for her report. She asked if Midori would ever be in the Memphis area, hoping to see her play some time. What she didn't know was that Midori was already scheduled to perform at the Germantown Performing Arts Centre with the IRIS Chamber Orchestra. Midori's managers contacted GPAC and arrangements were made for Emily and her parents, Robert and Lynn Giardino, to attend Saturday morning's open rehearsal and meet Midori at the conclusion of the rehearsal.
During the meeting at GPAC, Emily presented Midori with a gift and was able to clear up a few remaining questions for her project. "Did you speak English before you moved to America?" asked Emily. "What did you do before you became famous?" Midori told Emily that she had come to the U.S. without knowing any English. "It was one of my biggest challenges when I first got here" she said, "but as I was here longer and began making friends to talk to, it got easier". Regarding her job status before fame, Midori related that playing the violin has been her only job and cautioned Emily on fame. "Other people decide that you are famous - you don't decide that for yourself. People tell me that I am famous, but that doesn't make any difference in what I do. I still have to study, I still have to teach, I still have to practice - it is outside of who I am."
After meeting Midori, Emily confessed to being nervous at the beginning, but said she had found the violinist to be very nice and easy to talk with. As a student of the guitar for the past six months, Emily already had an interest in music, and says that this experience has made her more interested in orchestral music. When asked for a couple of surprising facts she learned about Midori through her project, Emily said "Midori started playing when she was only 4 years old. Did you know that her violin is over 300 years old?!"
Emily has turned in her project and awaits her final grade. She hopes for an "A" to complete her exciting experience with Midori.
