Kyoko Takezawa is an operatic diva of the violin...

Ken Smith, The Star-Ledger of Newark, New Jersey (December 3, 2001)

Emotional power, musical sensitivity, flawless technique, and a tone remarkable for its haunting beauty are the qualities that have established KYOKO TAKEZAWA as one of today's foremost violinists. Ms. Takezawa's interpretive insight and virtuosity, which are matched by a riveting platform manner, have made her a sought-after soloist with many of the world's leading orchestras.

During 2002-03 Ms. Takezawa was heard with the Montreal Symphony under Roberto Abbado, at the London Proms with the BBC (Wales) Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony under David Zinman, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Monte Carlo Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Malaysia Philharmonic. She also performed in Germany, Italy and throughout Japan. A former Gold Medallist of the Indianapolis Violin Competition, Ms. Takezawa served as juror at this competition in September 2002.

During her recent appearance as guest soloist with the Scottish National Orchestra in Edinburgh Ms. Takezawa was praised by the Daily Telegraph of London in glowing terms:

...violinist Kyoko Takezawa brought Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 4 out into the light with a tremendous spirit and mature vision. It is often said that to be convincing in this work one has to be a superb handler of melody, not a technical show-off. Takezawa's performance, in which she played a throaty lower register against a sparkling upper one, showed just what rewards are on offer when the soloist is both. (March 25, 2003)

Similarly, Ms. Takezawa received equally high praise from the Independent of London for her Proms performance at the Royal Albert Hall of Karol Szymanowski's rarely-heard First Violin Concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales: "The chromatic idiom allows the soloist, soaring over rich, Persian-carpet textures, to enjoy a good deal of melodic independence. The solo part, indeed, can soar to vertiginous heights, but Kyoko Takezawa was absolutely secure, her intonation so precise that even at the stratospheric top of her register she delivered every note sweet and pure." (August 5, 2002)

A high point of Ms. Takezawa's 2002-03 season was her last-minute substitution for Pamela Frank as guest soloist with the New World Symphony of Miami in the Samuel Barber Violin Concerto. In the words of James Roos of the Miami Herald, "Kyoko Takezawa ...gave a virtually flawless performance. She plays the first movement with the alert intelligence and fine feeling for its growing romanticism. She has the dreamy, poetic quality for the slow movement, the tremendous drive, agility, spotless intonation and clean-cut bowing for the relentless perpetual motion finale." (December 7, 2002)

During 2003-04 Ms. Takezawa is heard with the Jacksonville (FL) Symphony; the Spokane (WA) Symphony, the Halle Orchestra of Manchester, England, the Bournemouth Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall , Vancouver Symphony and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. In addition, she tours Japan as guest soloist with the Berlin Radio Orchestra, and will be heard with the Osaka Philharmonic, Kyushu Symphony, Kanagawa Philharmony and other Japanese ensembles. As a recitalist , she has started Beethoven's Violin Sonata cycle project in Japan from October of 2003 . She will also have recital tour in Italy in Jan.

2001-2002 was an exceptionally busy season for Ms. Takezawa : she toured the U.S. with the Moscow Philharmonic, the east coast of the U.S. with the New York-based Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (including a recital at Alice Tully Hall in New York City) , toured the Far East with the NHK Symphony under Charles Dutoit, and the United Kingdom and Ireland with the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra of Japan. She also performed in separate concerts as guest soloist with the Huntsville (AL) Symphony, the Santa Barbara (CA) Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, the New Japan Philharmonic (with Keith Lockhart), the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Weimar Staatkapelle, Berlin Radio Symphony, Royal Liverpool Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, The BBC Wales, the Orchestra of Monte Carlo, and the China Philharmonic. A highly accomplished chamber player, Ms. Takezawa participated in the Grand Teton Music Festival and the Aspen Music Festival.

Ms. Takezawa's performance with the Moscow Philharmonic at south Florida's Broward Center drew particular praise from Lawrence A. Johnson of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel: " Kyoko Takezawa's flame-throwing performance of Shostakovich's First Violin Concerto ended 2001 on a high musical note."

Ms. Takezawa has performed as soloist with many of the world's leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Cleveland, Baltimore, St. Louis, Houston, Toronto, Dallas, Montreal, Detroit, and Cincinnati. Abroad, she has been heard with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, London Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, Dresden Staatskappelle, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus, NHK Symphony, and the New Japan Philharmonic. She has collaborated with some of the most distinguished conductors of our time, including Seiji Ozawa, Sir Colin Davis, Michael Tilson Thomas, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Kurt Masur, Sir Neville Marriner, Leonard Slatkin, Charles Dutoit, and Andrew Davis. She has performed at major venues around the world, notably Carnegie Hall in New York; the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; London's BBC Proms; and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. She has also performed at summer festivals including Aspen Music Festival , Ravinia Music Festival , Blossom Festival , Hollywood Bowl Festival , Mann Music Center , Grand Teton Festival , La Jolla Chamber Music Fest in US , Schleswig-Holstein Muisk Festival in Germnay and Proms Festival in London.

A prolific recording artist, Ms. Takezawa can be heard on BMG's RCA Victor Red Seal label. Her most recent recording is a performance of the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 14, by Samuel Barber with Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Gramophone's review was unqualified in its praise:

Takezawa is not a player to keep much to herself. Her sound ? intense and focused ? seems to reach way beyond the length of each phrase. She is mindful, too, of the fiercer contrasts, seeking always to maximize them. It is a very operatic performance, the lyric and dramatic elements grippingly interacted. (May 1996)

Ms. Takezawa's other highly acclaimed BMG recordings include the Elgar Violin Concerto with Sir Colin Davis and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; the Violin Concerto No. 2 by Bartok with Michael Tilson Thomas and the London Symphony Orchestra; and the Mendelssohn Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 with Klaus Peter Flor and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Takezawa's CD of French violin sonatas was selected as one of the best recordings of 1993 by Stereo Review.

Ms. Takezawa's chamber music performances have also drawn high praise, and as co-director of the Suntory Festival Soloists of Suntory Hall in Tokyo, she has collaborated with Isaac Stern, Yo-Yo Ma, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Joseph Suk and other distinguished artists. In recent seasons, she has performed at the Aspen Festival and at the first Taipei Chamber music Festival with Cho-Liang Lin.

Ms. Takezawa began violin studies at the age of three and at seven toured the United States, Canada, and Switzerland as a member of the Suzuki Method Association. In 1982 she placed first in the 51st Annual Japan Music Competition, and at 17 she entered the Aspen Music School to study with Dorothy DeLay, the celebrated violin pedagogue, with whom Ms. Takezawa continued to study at The Juilliard School until graduating in 1989. In 1986 she was awarded the Gold Medal at the Second Quadrennial International Violin Competition in Indianapolis and, most recently, she received the prestigious Idemitsu Award for outstanding musicianship. Ms. Takezawa, who performs on the Antonio Stradivarius"Camposelice"(1710), generously provided by the Nippon Music Foundation, lives in New York.