Tokyo String Quartet

Martin Beaver, violin

Kikuei Ikeda, violin

Kazuhide Isomura, viola

Clive Greensmith, cello

  This performance marks the Tokyo String Quartet’s 23rd appearance with the Chamber Music Society of Detroit, having last performed on the series (with Jon Kimura Parker) in March 2003.

   The Tokyo String Quartet has captivated audiences and critics alike since it was founded more than 30 years ago. Regarded as one of the supreme chamber ensembles of the world, the quartet is comprised of violist Kazuhide Isomura, a founding member of the group; second violinist Kikuei Ikeda, who joined the ensemble in 1974; cellist Clive Greensmith, the former Principal Cellist of London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, who joined in 1999; and first violinist Martin Beaver, who joined the ensemble in 2002.

   The Tokyo String Quartet is the quartet-in-residence this season at the 92nd Street Y and will be joined by guest soloists on each of its three programs there. In January the quartet will perform the world premiere of a work by Joan Panetti in Pasadena as part of the centennial celebration of the Coleman Chamber Music Association. Also in January, the quartet will participate in Carnegie Hall's "Making Music: Joan Tower" program at Weill Recital Hall, and in February it appears at Alice Tully Hall on the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's quartet series.

   Highlights of recent seasons included a performance with pianist Alicia de Larrocha at Carnegie Hall, and an ambitious project that included performances of the complete string quartets and other chamber works of Brahms interspersed with four new pieces commissioned by the quartet. The premiere of each new piece took place in the native country of its composer: JoanTower (United States), José Luis Turina (Spain), Fabio Vacchi (Italy) and Hikaru Hayashi (Japan). The complete series was presented by the TischCenter for the Arts at the 92nd Street Y in New York and at the Auditorio Nacional de Musica in Madrid.

   The members of the Tokyo String Quartet have served on the faculty of the Yale School of Music since 1976 as quartet-in-residence. Deeply committed to teaching young string quartets, they devote a considerable amount of time at Yale during the academic year and at the prestigious Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in the summer. They also regularly participate in masterclasses throughout North America.

   The Tokyo String Quartet has released more than 30 landmark recordings on BMG/RCA Victor Red Seal, Angel-EMI, CBS Masterworks, Deutsche Grammophon and Vox Cum Laude, including the complete quartets of Beethoven, Schubert and Bartók. The quartet's recordings of Brahms, Debussy, Dvorák, Haydn, Mozart, Ravel and Schubert have earned such honors as 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.

   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. Instilled with a deep commitment to chamber music, the original members of what would become the Tokyo String Quartet eventually came to America for further study with Robert Mann, Raphael Hillyer and Claus Adam. Soon after its creation, the quartet won First Prize at the Coleman Competition, the Munich Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. An exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon firmly established it as one of the world's leading quartets.

   The Tokyo String Quartet has been featured on numerous television programs including "Sesame Street," "CBS Sunday Morning," PBS's "Great Performances," "CNN This Morning," and a national television broadcast from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, as well as on the soundtrack for the Sidney Lumet film "Critical Care" starring Kyra Sedgwick and James Spader. The 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 loaned to the ensemble by the Nippon Music Foundation since 1995, when they were purchased from the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

   Jon Kimura Parker has appeared with the Chamber Music Society of Detroit five times, having most recently appeared with Tokyo String Quartet in March 2003 and in a solo recital in September 1999.

   Internationally acclaimed concert pianist Jon Kimura Parker was born, raised and educated in Vancouver. A true Canadian ambassador of music, Mr. Parker has given two command performances for Queen Elizabeth II and has performed for the Prime Ministers of Canada and Japan and for the United States Supreme Court.

   A remarkably versatile artist, Mr. Parker has, in recent seasons, performed in Carnegie Hall (with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the Warsaw Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra), Chicago's Orchestra Hall, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, London's Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Sydney Opera House; he has toured the Canadian Arctic as part of "Piano Six" performing the music of Beethoven, Chopin, Nirvana and Alanis Morissette on an electronic keyboard for more than 1,000 Inuit school students; jammed with Doc Severinsen and the original "Tonight Show" Orchestra; been profiled in "Newsweek" magazine in Australia; and given an impromptu concert at the Victoria Falls Hotel while on safari in Zimbabwe. He also played himself in a guest appearance on the children's program "Under the Umbrella Tree" on the Disney Channel.

   Mr. Parker's recordings for Telarc have included a solo Chopin album, Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev piano concerti with Andre Previn, and a venture into comedy as Peter Schickele's pianistic sparring partner in the "Concerto for Two Pianos vs. Orchestra" by the fabled P.D.Q. Bach. Telarc has also released a recording of Jon Kimura Parker performing the Barber Concerto with Yoel Levi and the Atlanta Symphony.

   On New Year's Eve in 1995, Jon Kimura Parker gave a benefit performance of Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto in war-torn Sarajevo. The concert, sponsored by AmeriCares, was televised live in 59 countries worldwide and was covered by CNN. In November 1996 Mr. Parker received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, joining such distinguished musicians as Joni Mitchell and Oscar Peterson. In 1999 he was invested with the Order of Canada, his country's highest honor.

   Mr. Parker is the host of CBC Radio Two's five-part series "Up And Coming," which showcases the talents of promising young musicians (19 and under) across Canada. He has also hosted the classical music television series "Whole Notes" on Bravo Canada. He teaches a limited number of exceptional piano students at RiceUniversity in Houston.

   "Jackie" Parker began training with his uncle, Edward Parker, with daily coaching from his mother Keiko Parker. He also studied with Robin Wood and Marek Jablonski, which led to four years of advanced study with Lee Kum-Sing at the Vancouver Academy of Music. He was subsequently admitted to The Juilliard School on full scholarship as a student of the renowned pedagogue Adele Marcus.