Tokyo String Quartet will captivate audience on Jan. 23
Tokyo String Quartet will captivate audience on Jan. 23
The quartet will bring what the New York Times calls “beautifully burnished sound, impeccable ensemble and delicately modulated balances” to the Goshen College Sauder Concert Hall as part of the 2004-05 Performing Arts Series on Jan. 23 at 4 p.m.
“The love of the music has always come first for us,” said Kazuhide Isomura, violist and a founding member of the group. “We never thought of trying to play more beautifully than someone else, we only wanted to do justice to the music. The main reason we ever wanted to play quartets was that we were crazy about that great literature.”
Formed in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music, the quartet was profoundly influenced by Professor Hideo Saito of the Toho School of Music in Tokyo. Isomura, the remaining member of the original four, is joined by second violinist Kikuei Ikeda, a member since 1974; cellist Clive Greensmith, member since 1999; and first violinist Martin Beaver, who in 2002 became the newest member of the group.
Almost since its founding, the quartet has been regarded as one of the world’s supreme chamber ensembles. The group tradition of performing standard repertory and contemporary works includes compositions by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Shostakovich, Webern, Ravel and others.
In the past year, the ensemble performed in prestigious concert halls in the Netherlands, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Italy, Spain, France, Switzerland and Japan.
Among the quartet’s many achievements are more than 30 recordings, including complete quartets of Beethoven, Schubert and Bartók; awards from both Stereo Review and Gramophone magazines and seven Grammy nominations. They have also appeared on numerous television programs.
The group has served as quartet-in-residence at the Yale School of Music since 1976 and also at the Toho School of Music in Tokyo since 2001. Committed to teaching young string quartets, the quartet members devote a considerable amount of time during the academic year to holding master classes throughout North America and Europe.
The quartet performs with “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 are on loan to the ensemble by the Nippon Music Foundation.
Future concerts in the Performing Arts Series:
· Feb. 12, 7:30 p.m. – Baltimore Consort
· March 13 and 20, 3 p.m. – Goshen College Opera: Die Fledermaus
· April 16, 7:30 p.m. – Cantus
· April 26, 7:30 p.m. – Wroclaw Philharmonic (add-on)
For information about ticket availability, prices, reservations or more information, contact the Welcome Center at (574) 535-7566 or e-mail joannp@goshen.edu.
– by Melanie Histand
Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.
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