Tokyo String Quartet
Encyclopedia
The is an international string quartet
.
The group formed in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music. The founding members attended the Toho Gakuen School of Music
in Tokyo
, where they studied with Professor Hideo Saito. Soon after its formation the Quartet won First Prizes at the Coleman Competition, the Munich Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. This resulted in a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon
.
The quartet has recorded over 30 albums, covering a wide range. They won the Grand Prix du Disque Montreux, "Best Chamber Music Recording of the Year" awards from both Stereo Review and Gramophone magazines, and seven Grammy nominations. They recorded exclusively for RCA Victor Red Seal for many years, and now record for Harmonia Mundi.
During their 1994 25th anniversary international tour, the quartet performed the complete Beethoven String Quartets.
On television, the quartet has appeared on "Sesame Street
", "CBS Sunday Morning", PBS's "Great Performances
", "National Arts", and a national broadcast from the Corcoran Gallery of Art
.
The members of the quartet have served on the faculty of the Yale School of Music
since 1976.
The group plays on a collection of instruments made by the famous luthier
Stradivari. The collection is known as the Paganini Quartet
.
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
.
The group formed in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music. The founding members attended the Toho Gakuen School of Music
Toho Gakuen School of Music
is a private conservatoire located in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan.-History:Toho Gakuen was founded in 1948 in Kudan as a music school for children, and two years later opened the Toho High School of Music, to provide quality musical education to teenage girls. 1955 saw the establishment of the Junior...
in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, where they studied with Professor Hideo Saito. Soon after its formation the Quartet won First Prizes at the Coleman Competition, the Munich Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. This resulted in a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
.
The quartet has recorded over 30 albums, covering a wide range. They won the Grand Prix du Disque Montreux, "Best Chamber Music Recording of the Year" awards from both Stereo Review and Gramophone magazines, and seven Grammy nominations. They recorded exclusively for RCA Victor Red Seal for many years, and now record for Harmonia Mundi.
During their 1994 25th anniversary international tour, the quartet performed the complete Beethoven String Quartets.
On television, the quartet has appeared on "Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
", "CBS Sunday Morning", PBS's "Great Performances
Great Performances
Great Performances, a television series devoted to the performing arts, has been telecast on Public Broadcasting Service public television since 1972...
", "National Arts", and a national broadcast from the Corcoran Gallery of Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
.
The members of the quartet have served on the faculty of the Yale School of Music
Yale School of Music
The Yale School of Music is one of the twelve professional schools at Yale University and one of the premier music conservatories in the world....
since 1976.
The group plays on a collection of instruments made by the famous luthier
Luthier
A luthier is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with a term for the specialty of each maker, such as violinmaker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc...
Stradivari. The collection is known as the Paganini Quartet
Paganini Quartet
The Paganini Quartet was a virtuoso string quartet founded by its first violinist, Henri Temianka, in 1946. The quartet drew its name from the fact that all four of its instruments, made by Antonio Stradivari , had once been owned by the great Italian violinist and composer Niccolo Paganini...
.
First violin
- 1969 Koichiro HaradaKoichiro HaradaKoichiro Harada is a Japanese mathematician working on finite group theory, who proved the Gorenstein–Harada theorem classifying finite simple groups of sectional 2-rank at most 4, and who discovered the Harada–Norton group....
- 1981 Peter OundjianPeter OundjianPeter Oundjian is a violinist and conductor, the youngest of five children from an Armenian father and English mother. He also claims Scottish ancestry through his maternal grandfather, a Sanderson, and the MacDonell of Glengarry clan.Oundjian was educated in England, where he began studying the...
- 1995 Andrew DawesAndrew DawesAndrew Dawes is a Canadian violinist born February 7, 1940 in High River, Alberta.He was first violinist of the Orford String Quartet from 1965 until 1995 and plays a J.B.Guadagnini violin crafted in Parma in 1770...
- 1996 Mikhail KopelmanMikhail KopelmanMikhail Kopelman is a Ukrainian violinist.He was born in 1947 in the Transkarpathian city of Mikhail Kopelman is a [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] [[violin]]ist.He was born in 1947 in the Transkarpathian city of...
- 2002 Martin BeaverMartin BeaverMartin Beaver is a Canadian violinist. As a part of the Tokyo String Quartet he plays the Paganini-Comte Cozio di Salabue violin circa 1727...
External links
- Official site
- The Tokyo String Quartet Performs In-depth essay on concert performance of 6 March 2011.