The Tokyo String Quartet is an internationally renowned string quartet. The resident string quartet of the Library of Congress in 1963 A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments—usually two violins, a viola and cello—or a piece written to be performed by such a group. ...

They were established in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music. The founding members all attended the Toho School of Music in Tokyo, where they were students of Professor Hideo Saito. Soon after its formation at Juliard, the Quartet won First Prize at the Coleman Competition, the Munich Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. This resulted in a recording contract with the Deutsche Grammophon label. The Juilliard School is a performing arts conservatory in New York City, informally but definitively identified as simply Juilliard, and most famous for its musically-trained alumni. ...

The quartet has recorded over 30 albums and a wide range of quartet compositions. They have been awarded the Grand Prix du Disque Montreux, "Best Chamber Music Recording of the Year" awards from both Stereo Review and Gramophone magazines, and seven Grammy nominations. They record exclusively with BMG Classics/RCA Victor Red Seal.

During their 1994 international tour, which celebrated their 25th anniversary, the quartet performed the complete Beethoven String Quartets.

The quartet has appeared on a number of television programs including "Sesame Street," "CBS Sunday Morning," PBS's "Great Performances," "National Arts" and a national broadcast from the Corcoran Gallery of Art.

The members of the quartet have served on the faculty of the Yale School of Music since 1976.

The group plays on a collection of four highly valuable instruments made by the famous luthier Stradivari. The collection is known as the Paganini Quartet. Antonio Stradivari (1644? - December 18, 1737) was an Italian luthier (maker of violins and other stringed instruments), the most prominent member of that profession. ... The Paganini Quartet is a collection of four stringed instruments made by luthier Antonio Stradivari. ...

Current and former members

(This is an incomplete list.)

• Koichiro Harada, violin (founding member)
• Yoshiko Nakura, violin (founding member)
• Kikuei Ikeda, violin
• Andrew Dawes, violin
• Peter Oundjian, violin
• Martin Beaver, violin
• Mikhail Kopelman, violin
• Kazuhide Isomura, viola (founding member)
• Sadao Harada, cello (founding member)
• Clive Greensmith, cello