Kyoko Takezawa
Biography / Violin
Kyoko Takezawa electrifies audiences with the richness of her sound […] her virtuosic confidence in expressing emotion and the burning intensity of her interpretations make her one of the most important violinists of our time. After winning the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, Kyoko Takezawa embarked on a career that led her to collaborate with […]
Kyoko Takezawa
Kyoko Takezawa electrifies audiences with the richness of her sound […] her virtuosic confidence in expressing emotion and the burning intensity of her interpretations make her one of the most important violinists of our time.
After winning the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, Kyoko Takezawa embarked on a career that led her to collaborate with the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including the Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, and the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Cleveland, Baltimore, Saint Louis, Houston, Toronto, Dallas, Montreal, Detroit, and Cincinnati. She has also performed with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the BBC, the London Symphony, the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Weimar Staatskapelle, the Orchestre National de Radio France, the NHK Symphony, and the New Japan Philharmonic.
Over the years, she has been conducted by some of the most prominent figures, including Seiji Ozawa, Sir Colin Davis, Michael Tilson Thomas, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Kurt Masur, David Zinman, Sir Neville Marriner, Leonard Slatkin, Charles Dutoit, Marek Janowski, Riccardo Chailly, and Sir Andrew Davis, performing in the world’s leading concert halls, such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, the BBC Proms in London, the Musikverein, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.
A highly talented chamber musician, Kyoko Takezawa has participated in the La Jolla Music Festival, the Saratoga Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Hong Kong and Taipei International Chamber Music Festivals, the Great Mountain Music Festival, and the Spring Festival in Korea. She is a regular guest at the Martha Argerich Festival in Beppu, Japan. As co-director of the Suntory Soloists Festivals at Suntory Hall in Tokyo, she collaborated with the late Isaac Stern, Yo-Yo Ma, Pinchas Zukerman, and Wolfgang Sawallisch.
Recent season highlights have included performances with the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, the Mito Chamber Orchestra, the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, the Japan Century Symphony Orchestra, and chamber performances with Martha Argerich, Mischa Maisky, and Antonio Pappano at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, broadcast by RAI and ARTE.
She regularly performs in recitals with her longtime friend Edoardo Strabbioli and has begun a new duo project with the legendary guitarist Shinichi Fukuda, touring Japan. She served as a juror for the 2021 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition and the 2022 Seoul International Music Competition.
Kyoko Takezawa boasts an extensive discography, recently enriched by the recording of all Brahms’ Violin Sonatas with pianist Itamar Golan for Sony Music Japan.
The RCA Victor Red Seal label by BMG has released her recordings of *Romance*, the Violin Concerto Op. 14, with Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Elgar’s 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 both Mendelssohn’s Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with Klaus Peter Flor and the Bamberg Symphony.
Kyoko Takezawa is a professor at the Toho Music School and the Tokyo College of Music in Japan, and has been a jury member for the International Violin Competitions of Indianapolis, Menuhin, and Wieniawski. She has received the prestigious Idemitsu Award for outstanding musical ability and the Aichi Art Cultural Award.
She plays an Antonio Stradivari violin made in 1724.
June 2024
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