SHANDELEE, NY — On the eve of launching her 40th anniversary world tour, violinist Midori learned that her friend Daniel Stroup, founding president of the Shandelee Music Festival, was retiring from his 38-year job with the United Nations International School (UNIS).

On December 15, Midori and Daniel Stroup were reunited at UNIS, where, in honor of his upcoming retirement, she performed a concert for 150 students of the UNIS senior chorus, the string ensemble and the wind ensemble.

Along with her pianist, Leva Life, Midori performed works for violin and piano by Dvorák, Prokofiev, Schumann and Franck.

In a thank-you letter, the students told Midori that they “really enjoyed the repertoire and were thoroughly impacted” by her emotionally charged performance.

World famous violinist and Kennedy Center honoree Midori.

Midori—a famed violinist from childhood

Midori’s upcoming tour marks the 40th anniversary of her professional debut with the New York Philharmonic—at age 11.

Her concert venues read like a world atlas, a Shandelee Music Festival press release noted. Midori has performed with the London, Chicago, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Festival Strings Lucerne.

This anniversary tour will include concerts in Chicago, Washington, DC, Seattle, Vancouver and San Francisco, and a solo-recital return to Carnegie Hall. Midori will also appear with the Boston and National Symphony Orchestras, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Erie Philharmonic, Toledo Symphony and with Glacier Symphony in Montana.

Other concerts will follow in Hamburg, London, Dresden and Bonn.

In addition to her musical talent, Midori is an activist and educator.

Among her many honors, she has been awarded the Asian Cultural Council’s John D. Rockefeller 3rd Award, the Brahms Prize and a Kennedy Center Honor in 2021. She serves as a U.N. Messenger of Peace.

Daniel Stroup with his faithful companion Ricky on the grounds of their beloved Shandelee...

Daniel Stroup—a life of music

Daniel Stroup’s life has always been focused on music. He studied it in his hometown of Portland, OR, then in New York under a scholarship at the Manhattan School of Music. He earned his master of music degree in 1989, and performed in the Far East, Europe, Hong Kong and in Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center.

Stroup was an invited guest choral conductor for the annual Messiah “Sing In” at Avery Fisher Hall for seven years.

As the conductor of the UNIS Vocal Chamber Ensemble, he’s led his students in performances at the Harvard Club, the Shandelee Music Festival Showcase Series, La Guardia High School Center for the Performing Arts, the UN General Assembly Hall and more. Performance venues include Massachusetts, Connecticut, Portland, Oregon, Sweden, Germany, Vienna and France.

The ensemble has also performed for former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan, and for the 60th anniversary celebration of the U.N. School.

Besides the UNIS Vocal Chamber Ensemble, Stroup conducts the Senior Choir and Chamber Ensemble. He’s the coordinator for the UNIS Performing Arts program, and teaches piano privately.

After his retirement from UNIS, he will focus all of his energies on the Shandelee Music Festival, including plans for the expansion of the outreach programs in the Sullivan County public school system, as well as the expansion of the festival’s Sunset Concert series.