The Tokyo String Quartet will present an all-Beethoven program at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27, in the Eastman School of Music’s Kilbourn Hall as part of the annual Eastman-Ranlet Series of string quartet performances.
Regarded as one of the supreme chamber ensembles of the world, the Tokyo String Quartet has released more than 40 landmark recordings, which have earned such honors as the Grand Prix du Disque Montreux, “Best Chamber Music Recording of the Year” awards from Stereo Review and Gramophone magazines, and seven Grammy nominations. The ensemble has collaborated with an array of artists and composers and performs more than a hundred concerts worldwide each season.
The Tokyo Quartet will present one work each from Beethoven’s early, middle, and late periods for its concert in Kilbourn Hall. Tickets to the performance are: $20, $15, and $10 (discount with UR ID), and can be purchased at the Rochester Philharmonic Box Office, 108 East Ave.; by phone at (585) 454-2100; or online at esm.rochester.edu/concerts.
The Tokyo Quartet-Martin Beaver and Kikuei Ikeda, violin, Kazuhide Isomoura, viola, and Clive Greensmith, cello-serve on the faculty of the Yale School of Music as quartet-in-residence. The group has been featured on numerous television programs, ranging from Sesame Street and Great Performances on PBS to CBS Sunday Morning and CNN This Morning.
The ensemble 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.
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. The original members eventually came to America for further study, soon winning First Prize at the Coleman Competition, the Munich Competition, and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions.
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Calendar Listing:
Sunday, January 27
Eastman-Ranlet Series: Tokyo String Quartet
Martin Beaver, Kikuei Ikeda, violin; Kazuhide Isomura, viola; Clive Greensmith, cello
All-Beethoven program
3 PM
Kilbourn Hall, 26 Gibbs St.
Tickets: $20, $15, and $10, (discount with UR ID), available at the Rochester Philharmonic Box Office, 108 East Ave.; by phone at (585) 454-2100; or online at esm.rochester.edu/concerts.