KYOKO TAKEZAWA • A Violin by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù, Cremona, 1742, "Wieniawski"
Photo:Tetsuro Takai |
“It's been almost twenty years since I was first chosen to be a Stradivari Society recipient and was loaned the 'Ruby' Stradivari. I still remember how happy and excited I was back then and and I'm just as excited now that I'm the recipient of the 'Wieniawski' del Gesù twenty years later! I am so honored and so fortunate to be able to play the magnificent instrument with which Wieniawski used to perform the great works that he wrote."
“Society Founder Mary Galvin and Geoff and Suzanne Fushi have been very generous and wonderfully supportive of me over the years, even after I returned the 'Ruby.' They fully understand how essential it is for an artist to play a great instrument, allowing them to reach the highest level of their music-making. I feel honored to work with the Society again. I have been in touch with my patron since I played the wonderful 'Ruby,' which was my first time playing a Stradivarius—it was an unforgettable learning experience. I feel very special to have this opportunity to play another of my patron's instruments."
- Kyoko Takezawa One of today’s most sought-after soloists, Kyoko Takezawa is a Stradivari Society recipient for the second time. She is the former recipient of the “Ruby” Stradivari of 1708. Takezawa has been electrifying audiences with her virtuosity, interpretive depth, and fiery intensity for over two decades. She has performed with most of the world’s leading orchestras including Highlights of Takezawa’s 2009-2010 season include a major recital tour of nine cities in Japan celebrating the twentieth anniversary of her debut, a performance of Bach’s Triple Concerto at Carnegie Hall with Cho-Liang Lin and Bella Hristova and the New York String Orchestra conducted by Jaime Laredo. In January 2010 Takezawa performed Berg’s Violin Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She also appeared with the South Bend Symphony in January and will perform with the Augusta Symphony in March. The violinist will be a judge at the Menuhin Competition and will perform with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra during the competition. She will give a recital in Indianapolis in June. Highlights of the 2008-2009 season were performances in North America with the Vancouver Symphony, the Minnesota Sinfonietta, and the Amarillo Symphony and in Finland with the Kymi Sinfonietta. In the spring of 2009, Takezawa toured Australia and Japan with the West Australian Symphony performing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. In past seasons, Takezawa performed in North America with the St. Louis, Tucson and Jacksonville, Charlotte, Toronto and Seattle Symphonies. She also performed with the China Philharmonic, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Japan Philharmonic, Singapore, Guangzhou, Nagoya and Osaka Symphonies in Asia, Denmark’s Aarhus Symphony, France’s Orchestre National de Lille, and Manchester’s Halle Orchestra. She also appeared as the feature soloist on the Hamburg NDR Symphony tour of Japan. An avid chamber music performer, Takezawa has recently participated in the first Taipei International Chamber Music Festival with Cho-Liang Lin as well as the Grand Teton, Aspen, and Great Mountain (Korea) music festivals. The violinist serves as co-director of the Suntory Festival Soloists of Suntory Hall in Tokyo and has collaborated with the late Isaac Stern, Yo-Yo Ma, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Joseph Suk, Pinchas Zukerman, and many other distinguished artists. A former winner of the Indianapolis Violin Competition, she was also recently invited to serve as a juror at that competition. A prolific recording artist, Takezawa can be heard on BMG’s RCA Victor Red Seal label. She recently recorded the Barber Concerto for Violin with conductor Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Her other recordings include the Elgar Violin Concerto with Sir Colin Davis and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with Michael Tilson Thomas and the London Symphony, and Mendelssohn Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with Klaus Peter Flor and the Bamberg Symphony. Takezawa’s CD of French violin sonatas was selected as one of the best recordings of 1993 by Stereo Review. Her latest CD features the complete Brahms Sonatas for Violin with pianist Itamar Golan on the Sony Music Japan label. Kyoko Takezawa began violin studies at the age of three and at seven toured the United States, Canada, and Switzerland as a member of the Suzuki Method Association. In 1982 she took first prize at the fifty-first Annual Japan Music Competition. At seventeen she entered the Aspen Music School to study with Dorothy DeLay, with whom Takezawa continued her studies at The Juilliard School until graduating in 1989. In 1986 she was awarded the Gold Medal at the Second Quadrennial International Violin Competition in Indianapolis and most recently she received the prestigious Idemitsu Award for outstanding musicianship. An avid chamber music performer, Takezawa has recently participated in the first Taipei International Chamber Music Festival with Cho-Liang Lin as well as the Grand Teton, Aspen, and Great Mountain (Korea) music festivals. The violinist serves as co-director of the Suntory Festival Soloists of Suntory Hall in Tokyo and has collaborated with the late Isaac Stern, Yo-Yo Ma, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Joseph Suk, Pinchas Zukerman, and many other distinguished artists. A former winner of the Indianapolis Violin Competition, she was also recently invited to serve as a juror at that competition. A prolific recording artist, Takezawa can be heard on BMG’s RCA Victor Red Seal label. She recently recorded the Barber Concerto for Violin with conductor Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Her other recordings include the Elgar Violin Concerto with Sir Colin Davis and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with Michael Tilson Thomas and the London Symphony, and Mendelssohn Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with Klaus Peter Flor and the Bamberg Symphony. Takezawa’s CD of French violin sonatas was selected as one of the best recordings of 1993 by Stereo Review. Kyoko Takezawa began violin studies at the age of three and at seven toured the United States, Canada, and Switzerland as a member of the Suzuki Method Association. In 1982 she took first prize at the fifty-first Annual Japan Music Competition. At seventeen she entered the Aspen Music School to study with Dorothy DeLay, with whom Takezawa continued her studies at The Juilliard School until graduating in 1989. In 1986 she was awarded the Gold Medal at the Second Quadrennial International Violin Competition in Indianapolis and most recently she received the prestigious Idemitsu Award for outstanding musicianship. Visit www.KyokoTakezawa.com. |
