Tokyo String Quartet to Enlighten VCU on Final World Tour

by | May 2, 2013 | MUSIC

The legendary Tokyo String Quartet is on its final tour after 43 prestigious seasons and over a hundred concerts worldwide each season. One of the quartet’s last U.S. stops will be here in Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University’s W.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday May 4 at 8 PM, in which they will perform pieces by historic composers, Beethoven, Bartók, and Mendelssohn.

The legendary Tokyo String Quartet is on its final tour after 43 prestigious seasons and over a hundred concerts worldwide each season. One of the quartet’s last U.S. stops will be here in Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University’s W.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday May 4 at 8 PM, in which they will perform pieces by historic composers, Beethoven, Bartók, and Mendelssohn. Dana McComb, Cellist and VCU Strings Faculty, raves that their music pieces are “hallmarks of the quartet literature,” especially Bartók’s ”Quartet No. 6”, which she describes a “exciting” and filled with “energy.”

The Tokyo String Quartet is regarded as one of the supreme chamber ensembles of the world. Formed officially in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music, the group has collaborated with an array of artists, built up a comprehensive catalogue of acclaimed recordings (several Grammy-nominated), made appearances on numerous TV shows, and have educated young musicians across the globe. The current members include Martin Beaver and Kikuei Ikeda (violins), Kazuhide Isomura (Viola), and Clive Greensmith (Cello). “When you talk about string quartets, you don’t get much bigger than the Tokyo String Quartet,” says McComb, “They’re a fantastic group and to miss the opportunity to hear them live would be a shame.”

The Tokyo String Quartet performance is also part of VCU’s acknowledgement of National Chamber Music Month, sponsored by Chamber Music America. Along with performing on Saturday night, the quartet will be working with local strings students in master classes for VCU Music’s “Cellopalooza” and “Strings 360” programs during the day.

Tickets for this event are available at the VCU Music Box Office: by visiting vcumusic.showclix.com, emailing musictix@vcu.edu, or calling (804) 828-6776. Tickets are $34 for General Admission and $31 for VCU Faculty and Seniors. The concert takes place in the Sonia Vlahcevic Concert Hall in the W.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts, 922 Park Avenue, Richmond, VA

We’re told that the concert is selling out quick, so grab your tickets while they’re still available.

Marilyn Drew Necci

Marilyn Drew Necci

Former GayRVA editor-in-chief, RVA Magazine editor for print and web. Anxiety expert, proud trans woman, happily married.




more in music

Phish Announces Two-Night Richmond Run at Allianz Amphitheater

Phish is bringing its legendary live show back to Richmond for the first time in more than three decades. The Vermont jam band has announced an eight-show October tour that includes a two-night stop at Allianz Amphitheater on October 6 and 7. Richmond is one of just...

Photos | Djo & Pond at Allianz Amphitheater

Djo, the musical project of actor and musician Joe Keery, made his Richmond debut at Allianz Amphitheater on Friday night, drawing a packed crowd for one of the summer's most anticipated indie shows. Best known to many as Steve Harrington from Stranger Things, Keery...

Dispatch from the Lewis Ginter Picket Line

An on-the-ground account of the strike that prompted Jesse Welles and Graham Nash to cancel their Richmond performances. Tensions escalated as Jesse Welles called off his performance at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden yesterday amid an ongoing union fight for higher...

In Plan 9 We Trust

This weekend, Plan 9 Music marks 45 years in Richmond with a party at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery. Over the past four and a half decades, the Richmond institution weathered some of the most turbulent periods in music history. It closed stores, sold its warehouse and...

RVA Pro Wrestling is on a Tear Right Now

Last year, Dogwood Dell was packed out. The hillside was full, the crowd was loud and RVA Pro Wrestling put on one hell of a show. It wasn't just wrestling. It was entertainment built for a Richmond audience, mixing big personalities, over-the-top antics and...

Photos | The Strokes at Allianz Amphitheatre

The Strokes are the most important rock band of the 21st century. In 2001, they changed the dial from grunge to garage, and singlehandedly sent every record label on a scavenger hunt for their sauce. If you weren’t around back then you might think I’m exaggerating....

Topics: