Midori

A former child prodigy, Midori is a celebrated classical violinist from Japan who now makes her home in New York.

Midori's mother claims she discovered her daughter's musical talents when she was a tyke of two growing up in Osaka: Midori was tunefully humming a Bach piece she'd overheard her brother rehearsing. The child virtuoso's first concert took place in Japan at the age of six. Two years later, her family sent Midori's audition tape to famed Juilliard teacher Dorothy DeLay—when she heard the tape, she said she thought she was listening to the work of a 28-year-old. Midori and her family decamped to New York so that she could study under DeLay, and in 1983 Midori made her debut at the New York Philharmonic at age 11. Since then, she's kept up a hectic international concert schedule, playing with just about every big-name artist and symphony in the world.

Midori achieved violinist mega-stardom young, but her resume reads like that of an old pro. She's worked with greats like Emanuel Ax, Leonard Bernstein, James Levine, Yo-Yo Ma, Lorin Maazel, Daniel Barenboim, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Pinchas Zuckerman, and Isaac Stern, and has appeared with the Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic among many, many others. She's also appeared on shows ranging from The Tonight Show to Sesame Street. On top of all that, she managed to pick up a degree in psychology and gender studies from NYU in 2000, earn a masters in psychology in 2005, and find time to work with charitable organizations like Midori & Friends and Partners in Performance. [Image via AP]