Toshiya Eto (Violin '52)
The distinguished Japanese violinist studied at Curtis from 1948 to 1952 and became head of the prestigious Toho Gakuen School of Music
Born in Toshima, Tokyo, in 1927, Toshiya Eto (’52) began taking violin lessons at age five and was the first child to experience Japanese violinist, philosopher, and humanitarian Shin’ichi Suzuki’s groundbreaking method of educating people of all ages and abilities. After winning the Education Minister’s prize at a national music contest at age 12 and graduating from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1948, Mr. Eto traveled to Philadelphia to begin his studies at Curtis, where he joined the studio of Efrem Zimbalist (violinist, composer, educator, conductor, and director of the school from 1941–68). At age 24, while attending the school, he made his American debut at Carnegie Hall in 1951, sponsored by Zimbalist, and met his future wife, violinist Angela Nudo Eto (Violin ’56). His son Michael Eto (Piano ’83) also attended Curtis.
In the years following his 1952 graduation from Curtis, Mr. Eto became widely celebrated, both as a virtuosic performer and pedagogue, championed by the likes of Max Aronoff (’34), founder of Philadelphia’s New School of Music, Curtis faculty member, and violist in the legendary Curtis String Quartet, who made it implicitly clear in a rather humorous 1960 letter that Mr. Eto’s manager, Joseph A. Lippman of Herbert Barrett Management, Inc., should be promoting the young musician more vigorously.
Following a summer tour of Japan in 1959, the release of his debut album on Decca Records that same year, and additional performances here in the United States, Mr. Eto returned home, where he devoted himself to educating younger players, including world-famous artists Akiko Suwanai, Yayoi Toda, and Mariko Senju. 
A member of the Japan Art Academy, the highest-ranking official artistic organization in the country, Mr. Eto served as head of the Toho Gakuen School of Music, where he also oversaw the violin department. Praised by the New York Times as “a superior violinist,” he was prominently featured on numerous recordings through the early 1980s. He continued to be a frequent performer on the Western concert circuit, even returning to Carnegie Hall multiple times. Mr. Eto passed away at age 80 on January 21, 2008.
Photo credits: 1.) Image of Mr. Eto courtesy of RCA’s Beethoven Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61. 2. & 3.) Courtesy of the Curtis library and archives. 4. & 5.) Album cover ad portrait courtesy of Discogs. Please visit the Curtis Institute of Music Open Archives and Recitals (CIMOAR) and learn more about Curtis’s library and archives HERE.