Mari Sato

Violinist Mari Sato has enjoyed a rich and varied career as a solo, orchestra and chamber musician based in Cleveland. Described as “a visceral and engaging storyteller,” by clevelandclassical.com, Mari was the second violinist of the award-winning Cavani String Quartet for twenty-four years. During her tenure with the Cavani Quartet (1995-2019), Mari gave concerts on major series, including Carnegie Hall, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Festival de L’Epau in France, and the Honolulu Chamber Music Society. Mari Sato has recorded for Naxos, Albany Records, New World Records, Azica Records and Gasparo Records. Of her recording on a 2022 Naxos CD, Donald Rosenberg for Gramophone reviewed “...Sato and Wang give an intensely compelling performance.” Mari enjoys performing as a substitute in the Cleveland Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Chamber music collaborations continue with her colleagues in the Pantheon Ensemble (City Music Cleveland), No Exit New Music Ensemble and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Formerly on faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music 1995-2018, Mari Sato and her colleagues coached many outstanding young musicians in the Intensive Quartet Seminar and the Apprentice Quartet Seminar. Former chamber music students include members of the Jupiter, Daedalus, Aeolus, Miró, Fry Street, Verona and Afiara Quartets, as well as members of the Cleveland, St. Paul, Minnesota, Chicago, Detroit, and New York Philharmonic Orchestras. Mari loves working with young musicians and maintains a private violin studio, gives guest master classes and coaches chamber music as a visiting artist at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.