HIMARI has entered Japan’s Oricon Weekly Album Ranking at No. 3 with her first album for Decca Classics. Released September 25, DEBUT makes the 15-year-old Japanese violinist the youngest artist to reach the chart’s Top 3 with a classical album. The all-genres placing came during a week in which HIMARI also gave three sold-out performances with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Antonio Pappano, appearing in Kyoto on September 26, at the NHK Music Festival in Tokyo on September 27 and at Suntory Hall on September 29. Tower Records supported the release with displays at 64 locations across Japan, in what is understood to be the retailer’s first campaign of its kind for a classical artist.

DEBUT includes a live recording from HIMARI’s European debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sebastian Weigle at the Philharmonie, where she performed Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 1. She was 13 at the time, becoming the youngest Asian soloist to appear with the orchestra in a subscription concert. The album also features Wieniawski’s Fantasia on Themes from Faust alongside works by Chopin, Godowsky and Sibelius.

Born in Japan in 2011, HIMARI began playing violin at three and performed her first concertos with professional orchestras at six. At 10, she became the youngest Grand Prize winner of the Lipiński and Wieniawski International Competition for Young Violinists and the youngest student admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studies with Ida Kavafian. Her orchestral appearances have also included performances with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. She signed exclusively to Decca Classics in 2025.

Laura Monks, president of Decca Records, welcomed the chart result. “This is a sensational success and incredible recognition for HIMARI’s extraordinary talent. A moment to remember in the history of Decca Classics.” HIMARI performs on the 1717 “Hamma” Stradivarius, on loan from Yusaku Maezawa, and the 1732 Guarneri del Gesù “Ferni,” on loan from Hikaru Shimura.

Format: UK English