Aizuri String Quartet, Quartet

Biography

Violinists Miho Saegusa and Zoë Martin-Doike, Ayane Kozasa, viola, and Karen Ouzounian, cello.

Formed in 2012, the Aizuri Quartet has been named the String Quartet-in-Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music beginning in September 2014, and will additionally be the Quartet-in-Residence at the Ravinia Festival’s 2014 Steans Music Institute. The Aizuri Quartet is the culmination of years of music-making between its members, from their studies together at The Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, to their collaborations at storied chamber music festivals like Marlboro, Caramoor and the Ravinia Festival’s Steans Music Institute. The Quartet gave its debut performance on the Tertulia Chamber Music series in New York City, and participated in the 2013 Juilliard String Quartet Seminar. Projects during the 2013-2014 season include a residency at the Scrag Mountain Music Festival in Vermont, performances in New York City, Philadelphia, Memphis, and at the ArtsNaples World Festival in Naples, Florida, and a collaboration with award-winning poet Denice Frohman. The quartet was a finalist in the 2014 Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition.

Individual members of the quartet have won top prizes in such competitions as the Primrose International Viola Competition and Astral Artists National Auditions, and have collaborated with renowned artists Pamela Frank, Miriam Fried, Richard Goode, Kim Kashkashian and Mitsuko Uchida, among others. They have appeared throughout North America and Europe with a diverse range of ensembles including the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, IRIS Orchestra, A Far Cry, The Knights, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Symphony in C, Curtis on Tour, Musicians from Marlboro, Musicians from Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, and counter)induction.