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Tokyo String Quartet

Biography

Martin Beaver - violin
Kikuei Ikeda - violin
Kazuhide Isomura - viola
Clive Greensmith - cello

The Tokyo String Quartet has captivated audiences an critics alike since it was founded more than thirty years ago. Regarded as one of the supreme chamber ensembles of the world, the Quartet is comprised of violist Kazuhide Isomura, a founding member of the group, second violinist Kikuei Ikeda, who joined the ensemble in 1974, cellist Clive Greensmith formerly Principal Cellist of London´s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, who joined on 1999, and first violist Martin beaver who joined the ensemble in 2002. „This was quartet playing of the highest order, truly fabulous playing." (The London Times)

For the 2002-2003 season, the Tokyo String Quartet performs with pianist Alicia de Larrocha at New York´s Carnegie Hall, the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ and the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park, MD. The Quartet also tours with pianist Max Levinson to Boston, Atlanta, Berkeley, Orange Country, CA and the Krannert Center in Urbana, IL. Other U.S. performances include Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, the Caramoor Festival and New York´s Tisch Center for the arts at the 92nd St. Y. Internationally, the Quartet appears in Milan, Paris, Amsterdam, Beijing, Sydney, Istanbul, Toronto, Lisbon, Valencia, Madrid, London, Ljubljana, Berlin and Dijon.
For the 2001-2002 season, the Tokyo String Quartet embarked on an ambitious project which included performances of the complete string quartets and other chamber works of Brahms interspersed with four new pieces commissioned by the Quartet. The premiere of each other new piece took place in the native country of its composer: Joan Tower (United States), José Luis Turina (Spain), Fabio Vacchi (Italy), and Hikaru Hayashi (Japan). The complete series was presented by The Tisch Center for the Arts at the 92nd Street Y in New York and at the Auditorio Nacional de Musica in Madrid.
The members of the Tokyo String Quartet have served on the faculty of the Yale School of Music since 1976 as quartet-in-residence. Deeply committed to teaching young string quartets, they devote a considerable amount of time at Yale during the academic year, and at the prestigious Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in the summer. They also regularly participate in masterclasses throughout North America.

The Tokyo String Quartet has released more than thirty landmark recordings on BMG/RCA Victor Red Seal, Angel-EMI, CBS Masterworks, Deutsche Grammophon, and Vox Cum Laude, including the complete quartets of Beethoven, Schubert, and Bartók. The Quartet´s recording of Brahms, Debussy, Dvorák, Haydn, Mozart, Ravel and Schubert have earned such honors as the Grand Prix du DisqueMontreux, „Best Chamber Music recording of the Year" awards from both Stereo Review and Gramophone magazines, and seven Grammy nominations.

Officially formed in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music, the Tokyo String Quartet traces is origins to the Toho School of Music in Tokyo, where the founding members were profoundly influenced by Professor Hideo Saito. Instilled with a deep commitment to chamber music, the original members of what would become the Tokyo String Quartet eventually came to America for further study with Robert Mann, Raphael Hillyer and Claus Adam. Soon after its creation, the Quartet won First prize at the Coleman Competition, the Munich Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. An exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon firmly established it as one of the world´s leading quartets.

The Tokyo String Quartet has been featured on numerous television programs including "Sesame Street", CBS "Sunday Morning", PBS´s "Great Perfomances", CNN "This Mornuing", and a national television broadcast from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, as well as on the soundtrack for the sidney Lumet film Critical Care, starring Kyra Sedgwick and James Spader. The Quartet performs on „The Paganini Quartet", a group of renowned Stradivarius instruments named for legendary virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, who acquired and played them during the 19th century. The instruments have been loaned to the ensemble by the Nippon Music Foundation since 1995, when they were purchased from Corcoran Gallery of the Art in Washington D.C.

September 2002 / 670 words

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