Anna Hashimoto

On 3rd March 2007, the East London Clarinet Choir gave a performance of Gordon Jacob's suite Concertino, a work devised from a set of violin sonatas by the composer Giuseppe Tartini. Our soloist for the evening was Anna Hashimoto:

Anna Hashimoto was born in Japan in 1989 and moved to London shortly after. She started playing the piano at the age of 4 and clarinet when she was 8. She studied at the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music for six years under Charles Hine, where she was awarded the Else & Leonard Cross Memorial Scholarship and the Esther Coleman Prize. She has appeared at London ’s Wigmore Hall in numerous occasions, playing solo and chamber music. She has played in the Cadogan Hall in the presence of HRH Princess Alexandra and she has also performed in the Buckingham Palace . At a Gala Concert at the British Embassy in Paris Anna performed Mozart Clarinet Quintet (on a basset clarinet) in April 2006. In 2003 Anna won the 1 st Prize and all three special prizes at the Japan Clarinet Society’s ‘Young Clarinettists Competition’. The following year she won the Parthenon Tama prize at the Japan Clarinet Competition. Later that year Anna made her Barbican Hall concerto debut at the age of 15 with the English Chamber Orchestra in December 2004, with whom she made her second appearance in November 2006. At the International ClarinetFest 2005 in Tokyo , Anna had the honour of giving the Japan Premiere of Michael Daugherty’s clarinet concerto ‘ Brooklyn Bridge ’, which was commissioned by the International Clarinet Association. This performance was broadcast live on FM-Tokyo, and received great reviews. During this Fest she also played Tartini/Jacob’s Concertino with the British Clarinet Ensemble with whom she has recently recorded a CD of the work. Anna has given many recitals in the UK and concerto performances with numerous orchestras. Most recently she performed the Mozart Concerto with the Japan Chamber Orchestra in Tokyo , and she is going to play Jean Francaix’s Concerto with the Purcell Symphony Orchestra in March 2007 at the Jerwood Hall LSO St Luke’s as the winner of the Purcell School ’s Senior Concerto Competition. Anna is now under the management of ‘Euroarts-Japan’ who is organizing a concert tour in 2007/08 season. Currently studying with Michael Collins, Anna is a student at the Purcell School of Music under the Government Music and Dance Scheme. She is a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and will be joint principal clarinet in the Easter concerts. Anna plays on Peter Eaton ‘International’ clarinets and basset clarinet.