Tuesday (11/1) on the New York Times blog ArtsBeat, Daniel J. Wakin writes, “Two members of the Tokyo String Quartet, including its founding violist, will retire from the group at the end of next season, in June 2013, the ensemble said in a statement from its public relations firm on Tuesday. The violist, Kazuhide Isomura, 65, helped start the quartet in 1969. Also leaving is the second violinist, Kikuei Ikeda, 64, who joined in 1974. The other two members, the violinist Martin Beaver and the cellist Clive Greensmith, are trying out candidates to take over the other violin and the viola positions. The new members will be announced in the spring, the quartet said. Mr. Ikeda and Mr. Isomura will continue to perform and coach, according to the statement. The original members had studied at the Toho School of Music in Tokyo and went on to the Juilliard School, where they formed the quartet in 1969.”
Posted November 2, 2011
