Quartet AT Mito
This quartet is led by Yosuke Kawasaki, whom Seiji Ozawa places great trust in, and brings together Yuka Nishino, Shota Yanase, and Rei Tsujimoto, who are active in Japan and abroad, and began its activities in 2023 as the exclusive music ensemble of Art Tower Mito.The main focus of their activities is to spread the appeal of timeless string quartet masterpieces, while at the same time introducing outstanding works that are still unknown to the public.
Once a year, the four members refine their music through careful rehearsals and give a concert at the Concert Hall ATM. In addition, the quartet will conduct outreach activities to welfare facilities, teach children, and other activities to convey the joy of music to various people through exchanges rooted in the local community. The four virtuoso string quartet members, who have been working together for 10 years as the "Arcus Quartet," will open up new horizons for string quartet music.
Member
Yosuke Kawasaki川﨑洋介
- Violin
Yosuke Kawasaki currently serves as Concertmaster of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra. His versatile musicianship allows him to pursue a career in orchestra, solo and chamber music. His orchestral career began with the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra and soon led to Mito Chamber Orchestra, Saito Kinen Orchestra and Japan Century Orchestra all of which he led as Concertmaster. His solo and chamber music career spans five continents, collaborating with artists such as Seiji Ozawa, Pinchas Zukerman and Yo-Yo Ma and appearing in the world's most prestigious halls such as Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall and The Royal Concertgebouw.
Kawasaki's current regular ensembles are Trio Ink and the Mito Quartet II. His passion for chamber music led to his appointment as Music Director to the Affinis Music Festival in Japan. He is also an artistic advisor to a new chamber music festival Off The Beaten Path in Bulgaria.
As an educator Kawasaki has given masterclasses and performed side by side with students in schools across Canada. Well versed in the string quartet literature he was entrusted by Seiji Ozawa as the youngest faculty member of the Ozawa International Chamber Music Academy at the age of 26. He was also an adjunct professor of violin at the University of Ottawa School of Music from 2013-2022 alongside the beloved pedagogue, Yehonatan Berick.
Mr. Kawasaki began his violin studies at the age of six with his father Masao Kawasaki and Setsu Goto. He was subsequently accepted into The Juilliard School Pre-College Division and further continued his education and graduated from The Juilliard School in 1998 under the tutorship of Dorothy DeLay, Hyo Kang, Felix Galimir and Joel Smirnoff.
Yuka Nishino西野ゆか
- Violin
Graduated from and completed the postgraduate course at Toho Gakuen School of Music. She founded Quartet Excelsior during her undergraduate years. This group won second prize in the String Quartet competition at the 2nd Osaka International Chamber Music Competition & Festa in 1996, first place in the 5th Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition, and the Salvatore Sciarrino special prize in 2000, etc. They also won the Promising New Artist Prize at the 19th Nippon Steel Music Awards in 2009, and the 16th Hotel Ohkura Music Awards for the first time as a string quartet in 2014. From October 2010 to June 2016, she worked as coaching faculty at Santory Hall Chamber Music Academy in Tokyo. In April 2017 she started working as an artist in residence at Urayasu Concert Hall in Chiba prefecture. She is an adjunct instructor at Tokyo University of the Arts' Chamber Music course, and the first violinist of Quartet Excelsior.
Shota Yanase柳瀬省太
- Viola
After graduating from Tokyo University of the Arts' Department of Musicology, he studied at Toho Gakuen School of Music's Soloist diploma course. Received a diploma at the 52th Geneva International Music Competition in 1996. Won First Prize at the 1st Awaji-shima Shizuka Hall Viola Competition in 1997 and the 1st Matsukata Hall Music Award in 1997. As a member of Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, he won the Osaka Cultural Festival Award in 2019. In 2002 he was awarded a scholarship to study in Padua , Italy by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. He played with Orchestra d'Archi Italiana led by Mario Brunello. He moved to Germany in 2004 and became a member of Stuttgart State Orchestra. Returning to Japan in 2009, he became a principal violist in Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra, and became a solo violist in Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in 2014. As a member of Saito Kinen Orchestra and String Quartet ARCO, he extensively tours various music festivals in Japan including Matsumoto, Miyazaki, and Kitakyushu. He recently performed Beethoven’s All-String Quartets, a series of chamber music concerts, etc.
Rei Tsujimoto辻本玲
- Violoncello
Graduated with first-class honors from Tokyo University of the Arts' Department of Instrumental Music. Studied at Sibelius Academy in Finland and Bern University of the Arts in Switzerland. He won second prize and the Audience Award at the 72nd Music Competition of Japan in 2003, third prize at 2nd Gaspar Cassado International Violoncello Competition in Hachioji in 2009, and the 3rd Hideo Saito Memorial Fund Award in 2013. The monthly magazine Record Geijutsu selected his CD “Oblivion” as the best new disc in 2019. He performs with Saito Kinen Orchestra, Spring Festival Tokyo Chamber Orchestra, the cello quartet ensemble Quartet Exploche, etc. He is currently a principal cellist at NHK Symphony Orchestra. The non-profit organization Yellow Angel specially loaned him a cello made by Antonio Stradivari in Cremona in 1730.
official homepage：http://www.rei-tsujimoto.com
