Acclaim

“How fortunate would be the world of music if all the upcoming young virtuosi were as technically dazzling, intensely musical, questing in spirit and passionate in expression as [Ninomiya].” – Boston Herald

“The audience whooped, whistled, and shouted with delight at [Ninomiya’s] feats of virtuosity but also listened attentively to the quiet authoritative musicianship at the core of everything she did.” – The Boston Globe

“Ninomiya offered Wieniawski’s Second Concerto…and she played it splendidly, with bold tone and accents, a sumptuously singing line, and stupendous virtuosity throughout, especially in the gypsy-style rondo-finale, which she delivered with abandon and élan.” – The Boston Globe

“[Ayano Ninomiya] gave gripping readings of Bartok and Schumann…just how deserving Ms. Ninomiya was [of her prize in the Walter W. Naumburg Competition] became clear in [her Naumburg-sponsored recital]…Ms. Ninomiya lit into the opening measures, digging deeply into the strings and producing a sense of urgency. She sustained this intensity as well as her lapidary phrasing throughout. The impression was not just one of a routinely good performance. Rather, her technique – and more important her disposition – found their ideal foil in Bartok’s smoldering music…the performance was deeply communicative and engrossing.” – The New York Times

“Ms. Ninomiya played with the greatest intensity of the three [prizewinners of the 2003 Walter W. Naumburg Competition] and chose works that put that quality of her interpretive style in the spotlight. Especially striking was Kreisler’s sober and involving Recitative and Scherzo (Op. 6) and the ‘Furies’ movement from Ysaÿe’s unaccompanied ‘Obsession Sonata.’ But she was no less persuasive in conveying the mystery in a movement from the Janacek Sonata, the fire in the finale of the Schubert Fantasy, and both the wrenching quality and sheer sweetness of sound required in the last movement of the Berg Concerto…unfailingly sweet…” – The New York Times

“Under any circumstances, violinist Ninomiya could dissolve ennui toward Vivaldi. She has terrific energy and technique plus strong phrasing ideas. What made the performance special was her refusal to let each movement [of The Four Seasons] be about one thing. Vivaldi’s nifty tunes and descriptive effects were secondary in Ninomiya’s interpretation. She gave special attention to intricate interplay between soloist and orchestra and seized upon surprisingly numerous places where the composer breaks a genial train of thought for a musical parenthesis full of turmoil.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer