Shinichi Izutsu, who enters his tenth decade next year, has run his own workshop since 1956
More than 20 students of the Japanese violin maker Shinichi Izutsu will come together for an event in Matsumoto, Nagano, celebrating his life and achievements. Scheduled for 28 June 2026, the event will mark Izutsu’s 90th birthday as well as the 70th anniversary of the opening of his workshop in 1956.
The event will be held at the Shimauchi City Music Culture Hall in Matsumoto City and will comprise performances on instruments from his workshop as well as salvaged materials from local high schools. There will be an on-stage interview with Izutsu and a performance by the Thunder Egg Consort from Oregon, US.
In addition to the June event, hands-on activities are planned for February and May, in which children will learn how to cut, plane and varnish the wood used to make Izutsu violins.
‘Making instruments is also a part of music,’ professor Fumio Ouchi told the local Shimin Times newspaper. ‘I want citizens to feel closer to a wide range of music.’ Ouchi, 76, moved to the city in 2022 having been a teacher at the University of Washington, and has been one of Izutsu’s violin making students.
Situated in Nagano province, around 100 miles north-west of Tokyo, Matsumoto is regarded as a hub for classical music in the region, and was for many years the home of Shinichi Suzuki, founder of the eponymous violin teaching method. Outside the railway station is a statue of a girl playing the violin, as a tribute to Suzuki.
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