Kanako Ito was born in northern Japan in 1970 and started playing the violin at the age of five. She has won prizes in many international competitions, including the Geneva Competition, the Lexus Violin Competition in New Zealand, the Japanese-American Association Competition in New York, and the Schontal Violin Competition in Germany.
Kanako has traveled extensively throughout the world, performing as a soloist with orchestras such as the Leningrad State Orchestra, the Suisse Romande Orchestra, Wiener Streicher Solisten, Romania Radio Symphony, the Chautauqua Symphony, the New Zealand Symphony, the Winterthur Orchestra, and the Suk Chamber Orchestra. She has also performed with many of the major orchestras in Japan and has appeared on NHK FM Radio and on Nippon TV (NTV). In 1997 an hour-long documentary film about her was broadcast on TV Iwate in Japan.
Kanako has recorded for the Fontec label in Japan. These include the complete sonatas by Saint-Saëns and Grieg with the pianist Phillip Moll. She has also recorded for EMI, ASV and Naxos with the chamber ensemble Mobius. Since 2000, Kanako has been the concertmistress of the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra and she continues to give concerts throughout the U.K., the United States, and Japan.
