The renowned Japanese-American violinist Shunske Sato makes his Tafelmusik debut directing Beethoven Eroica & Bologne: The Winds of Change, our 2025/26 Season finale May 29-31 at Koerner Hall.
Concertmaster of Concerto Köln and former Artistic Leader of the Netherlands Bach Society, Sato is known for performances that push the envelope and “dig deeper into his instrument” (Gramophone).
Leading the orchestra from the violin, Sato directs Beethoven’s Symphony no. 3, “Eroica,” a work that profoundly changed the symphonic form while staying true to the composer’s ethos. Sato’s “phenomenal technique and effortless and light touch” (Stanford Daily) will serve him well in Joseph Bologne’s stunning Violin Concerto op. 3, no. 2.
We asked Shunske about the challenges and rewards of directing a Beethoven symphony from the violin, his non-musical creative pursuits, and what it’s like to collaborate with his wife, fortepianist Shuann Chai.
How did music enter your life?
Before I was conscious (nota bene: I started violin at age two), and in a household with a musically driven mother who liked everything from classical music to French chansons and Russian folksongs.
Did you start your musical journey on modern violin and then switch to baroque violin? Or was it gut strings from day one?
The former. It is unusual for young children to start immediately on gut strings, but times are changing: I’ve had students as young as 11 who were interested in baroque violin, and I put my own daughter on gut strings when she was 9—ostensibly to improve her bow technique, but of course they are, objectively and obviously, better.
Though now a full gut-convert, I do wish I had started earlier: it would have saved me many years of having to re-think sound and technique, which I’m convinced is much healthier and more aware than my pre-gut days.
You’ve made a critically acclaimed recording of Beethoven’s complete violin sonatas with your wife, fortepianist Shuann Chai. What was it like to work on such an ambitious musical project with your life partner?
Unsettlingly easy. In fact, one of the things we did when we first met was to read through music together, the first piece being Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” (more correctly, “George Bridgetower”) Sonata.
Fact: We have a harder time sorting out how housekeeping is done than getting through any music. Throughout the recording, we knew we had each other’s backs 100%, and I could not have imagined attempting such an important and massive undertaking with anyone else.
Photos by Marco Marco Borggreve
We’re looking forward to hearing Joseph Bologne’s Violin Concerto op.3, no.2, featuring you as soloist! Can you tell us a bit about the concerto and what sets it apart from concertos by Bologne’s contemporaries?
This is my first time spending time with Bologne’s work and I still know too little about his style in general, but the concerto is wildly original. Perhaps because of his non-musical activities as fencer, hunter, and military man, there are turns and twists and juxtapositions that are delightfully unexpected and keep you on the alert. Bar 1 of the concerto starts with three ideas at once, all of them distinct from one another and vying for attention: he’s fully aware of the musical conventions of his time and his colleagues, but you feel something fearlessly innovative that sets him apart.
You’re also a talented visual artist—we love your Beethoven illustrations! Can you tell us more about your art and your preferred mediums?
Thank you! Though “visual artist” is far too big of a term. I literally took the most basic drawing app possible on an 8-year-old iPad and scribbled. It was more a product of necessity (i.e. crowdfunding for our Beethoven CD set) than of inspiration, but I do have a history of enjoying drawing, designing and the like. Website design, for example, has been an outlet for my visual inclinations, the latest being the site for the PastForward Ensemble, my newly founded ensemble for romantic music.
You’ll be directing Beethoven’s Symphony no. 3, “Eroica,” from the violin, which is unusual for large-scale works from this period. Can you tell us more about the benefits, challenges, and differences associated with the “leading-while-playing” approach to Beethoven’s music?
From a historical point of view, it is not at all unusual—large scale works included— to direct from the violin: even Beethoven’s 9th was directed by what we would nowadays call the concertmaster.
Benefits: the tangibility and clarity of the actual sound that a playing director conveys and the physicality involved in it, right down to the very details of a single bow stroke or fingering.
Challenges: playing one part while still maintaining an overview of the whole, especially while having a noisy acoustic box (i.e. the violin) under the ear. And in all seriousness, turning pages while playing. But the benefits outweigh the challenges, and to feel fully integrated into the orchestra as one of its playing members is thrilling.
If you were not a musician, what would you most likely be doing now?
A nerd. Not even really sure in what field, but some rabbit-hole seeking, obsessive, unrelenting nerd.
Beethoven Eroica & Bologne: The Winds of Change
Our 2025/26 Season finale at Koerner Hall celebrates Ludwig van Beethoven and Joseph Bologne, who embraced change and challenged the status quo. Making his Tafelmusik debut directing behind the violin is a trailblazer in his own right, the renowned Japanese-American violinist Shunske Sato. Secure your seats today!
May 29-31, 2026
Koerner Hall
