Martin Beaver, violin
Kikuei Ikeda, violin
Kazuhide Isomura, viola
Clive Greensmith, cello
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 creation, the Quartet won First Prize at the Coleman Competition, the Munich Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. The quartet first performed and coached at the Yale Summer School of Music and Art in Norfolk, Connecticut, in 1976.
The following fall they joined the Yale School of Music faculty as quartet-in-residence. They have released more than thirty landmark recordings, including the complete quartets of Beethoven, Schubert, and Bartók. The ensemble's recordings of works by Brahms, Debussy, Dvorák, Haydn, Mozart, Ravel and Schubert have earned numerous honors, including seven Grammy nominations.
The Tokyo has also been featured on PBS's Sesame Street and Great Performers and on CNN This Morning. In Yale’s chamber music program the members of the quartet work intensively as coaches with all the student string ensembles.