Quartet Integra
Described as having “an enormous wealth of colors... and sparkling rhythms”
(All News Press), Quartet Integra are quickly developing a reputation of international prestige. In 2022, the Quartet won Second Prize and the coveted Audience Award at the 2022 ARD International Music Competition, First Prize at the 2021 Bartók World Competition, and First Prize and the Prize of Beethoven and Grand Prix Award at the 2019 Akiyoshidai Music Competition. Additionally, Quartet Integra have received the prize Banca Monte dei Paschi in the 2021 Accdemia Musicale Chigiana, the Kirishima International Music Festival Prize and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi Music Director Prize in the 2021 Kirishima International Music Festival.
Upcoming performances include over twenty performances throughout Japan including the Kanazawa, Takefu International Festivals and at venues such as Tokyo Opera City, Toppan Hall, and Suntory Hall, among others. Additionally, they have performances planned as part of the Discovery Series at the La Jolla Music Society, the California Club in Los Angeles, and Thayer and Zipper Halls at the Colburn School. Quartet Integra has performed and worked with artists including Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Kazuhide Isomura, Shigeo Neriki, and Kazuhide Isomura.
Quartet Integra are active festival participants. They were invited by Günter Pichler (formerly of the Alban Berg Quartet) to attend the Chigiana Summer Festival in Siena on a scholarship and have attended festivals such as Crans Montana Classics, Toyama Chamber Music Festival, and Kirishima International Music Festival. Committed to contemporary works, Quartet Integra has commissioned many new
works from Japanese composers and have given over a dozen world premieres.
They have participated in coachings and master classes with Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Milena Pajaro-Van de Stadt, Jean-Guihen Queyras, and the Jerusalem, Henschel, Atrium, Voce, and Shanghai String Quartets.
Quartet Integra, consisting of first violinist Kyoka Misawa, second violinist Rinato Kikuno, violist Itsuki Yamamoto, and cellist Anri Tsukiji, formed in 2015 and began their studies with Kazuhide Isomura and Nobuko Yamazaki at Toho Gakuen School of Music. They continued their academic work as a quartet as fellows at the Suntory Hall Chamber Music Academy. They are currently enrolled in the Chamber Ensemble-in-Residence Program at the Colburn School, where they study with Martin Beaver, Clive Greensmith, and Tatjana Masurenko. Quartet Integra is supported by grant funding from the Matsuo Foundation and are on the roster of Colburn Artists. (March 3rd 2023)