Biography

Berlin Philharmonic’s Principal Leader of the 2nd violins, Marlene Ito began her violin journey at the age of four through the Suzuki method under the guidance of Hiroko Suzuki in Japan and Yasuki Nakamura in Australia.

Her tertiary studies began at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under Goetz Richter, continuing her studies at the Musikhochschule Lübeck and the University of the Arts (UdK) Berlin with Nora Chastain. She completed her training at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, where she received lessons from 1st Concertmaster Toru Yasunaga. Influences in her musical development also include Zakhar Bron and Walter Levin, Primarius of the LaSalle Quartett.

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2nd prize winner of the 2006 Max Rostal International Violin Competition, winner of the National Kendall Violin Competition and the Dorcas MacClean Scholarship, Ms. Ito has performed as soloist with orchestras including the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, National Radio Orchestra of Ireland (RTE), Berliner Symphoniker, Hamburger Symphoniker, and Kammerakademie Potsdam, collaborating with renowned conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Ivan Fischer, Michael Sanderling, Georg Fritzsch, and Richard Gill.

Beyond her solo endeavours, Marlene Ito is an avid chamber musician. She is a member of the Pangaea Trio Berlin and was a founding member of the Varian Fry Quartet. Her collaborations with esteemed artists such as Sir András Schiff, Tabea Zimmermann, Seong-Jin Cho, jazz pianist Iiro Rantala and leading members of the Berlin Philharmonic have taken her performances across the US, Asia, and Europe.

Ms. Ito’s first orchestral position was as Associate Concertmaster of the Komische Oper Berlin. She joined the Berlin Philharmonic in 2011 where she later became Principal Leader of the 2nd Violins in 2020- the first woman to hold this position in the orchestra’s history.

Marlene Ito also teaches at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic and also served as Assistant to her former teacher Prof. Nora Chastain from 2014 to 2024 in the Strings Faculty of the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK).

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