Album Notes

Since Susanna Yoko Henkel held her first violin in her hands on her second birthday, she has never let go of the fervor for her instrument.
In the meantime Susanna Yoko is playing on a violin built 1705 in Brescia/Italy by Giovanni Battista Rogerius, and the exhilaration of press as well as audience are causing them to go head over heels for the German-Japanese violinist.

"Strad Magazine" declares Susanna Yoko's debut CD with works for solo violin as CD of the month, and appraises: "She makes a glorious sound - I can't remember the last time I found myself swaying along to Bach so contentedly. Henkel plays with a disarming naturalness..."
The culture magazine "Applaus" writes enthusiastically: "Seldom is solo violin presented so engrossing and intriguing as it is here."
The press praises her debut at the renowned Ansbacher Bachwochen: "Susanna Yoko Henkel presented a simply grandiose solo matinee".

Already during her studies in Munich with the great pedagogue Ana Chumachenco Susanna Yoko Henkel wins awards at international competitions (1997 Queen Elisabeth in Brussels, Dong-A in Seoul, 1999 Mozart-Competition in Salzburg). To follow are first prizes at the German Music Competition in Berlin, the Competition "Tibor Varga" in Sion/Switzerland and the International Violin Competition in Markneukirchen.

Susana Yoko performs regularly with top-ranking orchestras as a soloist (i.a. Berlin Radio Broadcasting Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra Mozarteum Salzburg, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, German Chamber Academy Neuss, Orchestra of Beethovenhalle Bonn, Symphony Orchestra Aachen, mdr-Symphony Orchestra Leipzig, National Orchestra Frankfurt/Oder, Südwestfunk Radio Broadcasting Orchestra, National Orchestra Mainz, Philharmonic Orchestra Duisburg, Puchon Philharmonic Orchestra Seoul, European Union Chamber Orchestra, Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, Florida West Coast Symphony Orchestra) and is invited to renowned festivals such as the Ansbacher Bachwochen, Ludwigsburg Schlossfestspiele, the Rhinegau-Musik-Festival, and the concerts in Châtelet Paris.

2003 Susanna Yoko is selected as soloist for the highly regarded "Toyota Classics" tour and appears with the Mendelssohn violin concerto in Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and in the Philippines.

2006 Susana Yoko Henkel releases two eagerly anticipated CDs: The "Milestone" of every violinist: The collected recordings of all Solo Sonatas and Partitas by Johann Sebastian Bach as well as chamber music by Maurice Ravel.