Tokyo String Quartet
Regarded as one of the supreme chamber ensembles of the world, the Tokyo String Quartet has captivated audiences and critics alike since it was founded 45 years ago. Performing over a hundred concerts worldwide each season, the quartet has a devoted international following that includes the major capitals of the world and extends to all four corners of the globe, from Australia to Estonia to Scandinavia and the Far East. The Tokyo Quartet has served on the faculty at the Yale School of Music since 1976 and is quartet-in-residence at New York’s 92nd Street Y. Deeply committed to coaching young string quartets, the musicians regularly conduct master classes throughout North America, Europe and Japan.

Officially formed in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music, the Tokyo String Quartet traces its origins to the Toho School of Music in Tokyo, where the founding members were profoundly influenced by Professor Hideo Saito. Soon after its formation, the quartet won First Prize at the Coleman Competition, the Munich Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. An exclusive collaboration with Deutsche Grammophon (more than 40 landmark recordings) firmly established it as one of the world’s leading quartets. The ensemble now records for harmonia mundi usa and has brought out an acclaimed cycle of Beethoven’s complete string quartets. Its most recent release is devoted to the Brahms Quintets Op. 34 (with Jon Nakamatsu, piano) and Op. 115 (with Jon Manasse, clarinet).

The Tokyo String 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 on loan to the ensemble from the Nippon Music Foundation since 1995, when they were purchased from the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.