Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
The Tokyo String Quartet (東京クヮルテット) is an international string quartet.
The group formed in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music. The founding members attended the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, 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. This resulted in a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon.
The quartet has recorded over 30 albums, covering a wide range. 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 nominations. They recorded exclusively for RCA Victor Red Seal for many years, and now record for Harmonia Mundi.
During their 1994 25th anniversary international tour, the quartet performed the complete Beethoven String Quartets.
On television, the quartet has appeared on "Sesame Street", "CBS Sunday Morning", PBS's "Great Performances", "National Arts", and a national broadcast from the Corcoran Gallery of Art.
The members of the quartet have served on the faculty of the Yale School of Music since 1976.
The group plays on a collection of instruments made by the famous luthier Stradivari. The collection is known as the Paganini Quartet.
Members
The announcement of Kazuhide Isomura and Kikuei Ikeda's retirement from the quartet in June, 2013 has been officially aired. This retirement led to the official announcement of the disbanding of the quartet following the end of the 2013 season.