Violinist Coco Tomita Named as Lies Askonas Fellow

The 20-year-old violinist will join Askonas Holt's roster, and will receive mentoring and career guidance

British violinist Coco Tomita is the newest Lies Askonas Fellow at London's Askonas Holt agency. The fellowship provides mentoring opportunities, as well as tailored career coaching and guidance.

At just 20 years old, Tomita's career is quickly growing. In 2020, she was the winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year Strings Category and released her debut album on Orchid Classics earlier in 2022.

In the 2022/23 season, Tomita will make her debut as the soloist with the London Mozart Players, where she will perform Mendelssohn's violin concerto. She completed a solo tour of Japan, which saw her appear with the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.

A past student of the UK's Yehudi Menuhin School, Tomita is now studying with Professor Kolja Blacher at Berlin's Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler."

The fellowship is named after Lies Askonas, one of the few female agents in the mid-twentieth century. She represented a number of prominent artists, including the singer Birgit Nilsson and conductors Claudio Abbado and Zubin Mehta.

"I am beyond thrilled and honoured to announce my recent partnership with Askonas Holt Limited as their newest Lies Askonas Fellow," Tomita wrote on social media.