The was an international

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinist ...

that operated from 1969 to 2013. The group formed in 1969 at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most ...

of Music. The founding members attended the Toho Gakuen School of Music in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, 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 Young Concert Artists is a New York City-based non-profit organization dedicated to discovering and promoting the careers of talented young classical musicians from all over the world. The competition, founded in 1961, allows artists from all over ...

. This resulted in a recording contract with

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family o ...

. The quartet recorded over 40 albums, covering a wide range of classical music. 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 The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nominations. In addition to Deutsche Grammophon, for many years they recorded for RCA Victor Red Seal, also for Angel-EMI, CBS Masterworks, and for the last decade for

Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi is an independent record label which specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group. Its Latin name ''h ...

. During their 25th anniversary international tour in 1994, the quartet performed the complete Beethoven String Quartets. On television, the quartet appeared on "

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) and ...

," " CBS Sunday Morning," PBS's " Great Performances," " National Arts," and a national broadcast from the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Desi ...

. The members of the quartet served on the faculty of the

Yale School of Music The Yale School of Music (often abbreviated to YSM) is one of the 12 professional schools at Yale University. It offers three graduate degrees: Master of Music (MM), Master of Musical Arts (MMA), and Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), as well as a jo ...

from 1976. The group played on a collection of instruments made by the famous

luthier A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers of ...

Stradivari. The collection is known as the Paganini Quartet. The quartet disbanded at the end of the 2013 season, following the decision by the violist Kazuhide Isomura, an original member, and the 2nd violinist Kikuei Ikeda to retire.

Members

First violin

*1969 Koichiro Harada *1981 Peter Oundjian *1995 Andrew Dawes *1996 Mikhail Kopelman *2002 Martin Beaver

Second violin

*1969 Yoshiko Nakura *1974 Kikuei Ikeda

Viola

*1969 Kazuhide Isomura

Cello

*1969 Sadao Harada *2000

Clive Greensmith Clive is a name. People and fictional characters with the name include: People Given name * Clive Allen (born 1961), English football player * Clive Anderson (born 1952), British television, radio presenter, comedy writer and former barrister * ...

References

* http://www.tokyoquartet.com/artist.php?view=bio

External links

Official site

The Tokyo String Quartet Performs
In-depth essay on concert performance of 6 March 2011. {{Authority control American string quartets Musical groups from Tokyo Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups disestablished in 2013 Yale School of Music faculty Deutsche Grammophon artists