a nun . `` This was my life , I did n't know any other . I took it and I was very happy . Being a child performer opened up opportunities . From a fairly early age I was exposed to different cultures and was traveling round the world . It was a great education , '' she told CNN . Being given the opportunity to learn more about different people and experience different places was only one part of this education . While Midori has been practicing and honing her own skills , she has also been given the opportunity to give something back . In 1992 she set up Midori & Friends , a non-profit organization that brings musical education to young people in New York City . `` I was always interested in education ; not just receiving , but also helping others and being part of the community , '' she said . From Midori & Friends came Music Sharing , a similar organization in Japan , offering programs in public schools and children 's hospitals . While continuing to perform across the world with renowned orchestras she took some time out to further her
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- She is only 37 years old , but violinist Midori Goto has already spent 25 years taking center-stage with the world 's best orchestras . Midori first hit center-stage when she was just 11-years-old . Born into a musical family in Osaka , Japan , in 1971 -- her mother and brother are both accomplished musicians -- her own prodigious talents were spotted at an early age by Zubin Mehta , the conductor and one-time musical director of the New York Philharmonic . Inviting Midori to play with the New York Philharmonic in 1982 , he helped to propel her onto the world stage which has been such a large part of her life ever since . She moved to New York to study at the Juilliard School of performing arts and has lead a life entwined with music . Unlike some prodigiously talented people there is no hint of resentment directed toward her and the life she has led . Nor is there any notion of a stolen childhood , despite her admission that she did harbor dreams of being all sorts of other things , from an archeologist or diplomat to a zookeeper or