Sunao Goko has mastered music in two roles: as a violin soloist and as First Concertmaster of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Born in 1993 in Tagajo City, Miyagi Prefecture, Goko won first prize at the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition in 2013, also receiving the Audience Prize and Contemporary Music Prize. Since his 2007 debut as a soloist he has gone on to perform with numerous orchestras in said role. Starting in 2017, he performed the full cycle of Beethoven violin sonatas across 3 years. His previous teachers include Mami Teshigawara, Gerhard Bosse, Akiko Tatsumi, and Pavel Vernikov.
　
Goko plays the 1682 "Banat" Stradivarius. In 2019, he received the 29th Idemitsu Music Award. In April 2024, he was appointed First Concertmaster of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. As of January 2025, he also serves as a Miyagi Kizuna Ambassador.
　
This year marks his third appearance at PMF, following his performance as a soloist in 2019 and as recitalist and concertmaster in 2021. At PMF 2025 he will perform as concertmaster on the Homecoming Orchestra Concert.