Although born in Brazil, right after my birth an opportunity came for my father to study in the United States. We actually moved to Iowa City, Iowa, when I was three months old. My father got a scholarship to study at the University of Iowa. There was a music school in Iowa City, the Preucil School of Music, that used the Suzuki method for kids, based on the idea that if youngsters can learn languages, then they can learn music, too. The minimum age for enrollment in that school was three, though, so my parents had to wait to get me in. I stayed in the school for less than a year, because my dad finished what he had come for, and we headed back to Brazil. There, we found a music festival that also used the Suzuki method, in the city of Curitiba. We traveled there during the summer so I could continue the Suzuki process. My ears were good, and I had kind of a natural talent for violin. But my playing was based mainly on enthusiasm, not too much discipline. Of course, in Brazil I was also doing many other things. I played soccer, cards, and lots of video games. I rode my bicycle. I was not one of those kids who only practiced, but I did love the violin.

At school, we had no orchestra. I don’t think most of the kids at my high school even knew what a violin was. I played at home with my mom a lot! We went down the violin repertory list together—my mom on the piano, me on the violin. Only after I moved out of Brazil for undergraduate study did I realize how lucky I’d been. Unlike at home, at school I had to schedule rehearsal time in order to play with a pianist. There were two festivals in Brazil I used to attend—one in the winter, the other in the summer. Both had orchestras. Those were the first orchestras I played in. What I remember to this day, when I play, is the enthusiasm I had back then. Like many youthful experiences, that really stayed with me.

Edson continues: when I was a teenager, my parents got the idea that because we were always so casual at home it might be better for me to study with someone who would impose a bit of structure. So when I was 14, I started to have violin lessons in Rio de Janeiro with Paulo Bosisio. He had studied in Germany with Max Rostal, a famous violin teacher in Europe during the second half of the 20^th century. After five years, he recommended that I look for Igor Ozim, a teacher in Salzburg, Austria, who had also studied with Max Rostal. That summer I went to play for him in the Summer Academy in Salzburg. Professor Ozim said he would like to have me study with him for undergrad, so I moved to Salzburg and stayed there for five years. That was my first time living by myself, which was a challenge, but being in Salzburg helped. It is a beautiful, small city, and I learned a lot there, not just about music but how to adjust to a new culture. Then I moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where I got a Master of Music degree and an Artist Diploma from Yale University’s School of Music. It was there that I was first introduced to the Baroque violin, which eventually led me to audition for and get accepted at The Julliard School.

When I was still very young, I came across the music of legendary Italian virtuoso Nocolò Paganini. It had such a strong impact on me! The first time I heard his music, I was about 10 years old. The violin is a small instrument. You can easily hold one in your hands. The fact that Paganini made so much sound come out of it, so much drama, fascinated me. The virtuosity and magnetism of his works was something I could not forget. I remember trying to play one of his 24 Caprices at age 10 but nothing worked. My father had the score at home, so I opened it and I tried to play the first Caprice. I couldn’t get through the first two measures and realized that it might take some time before I could. But I like the violin. I wanted to get to the point where I would be able to play something that challenging.