Kyoko Takezawa has performed as soloist with such ensembles as the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, and the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Cleveland, Baltimore, Saint Louis, Houston, Toronto, Dallas, Montreal, Detroit and Cincinnati. She has also been heard with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, London Symphony, Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, NHK Symphony and the New Japan Philharmonic. In past seasons Ms. Takezawa performed with the Vancouver, St. Louis, North Carolina, Tucson and Jacksonville, Charlotte, Toronto and Seattle Symphonies. She also performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Japan Philharmonic, Singapore, Nagoya and Osaka Symphony in Asia, Denmark's Aarhus Symphony, France's Orchestre National de Lille, and Manchester's Halle Orchestra. An accomplished chamber music performer, Ms. Takezawa has participated in the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, and La Jolla Music Festivals; she is also the co-director of the Suntory Festival Soloists of Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Her recordings can be heard on BMG's RCA Victor Red Seal label. Ms.Takezawa, who performs on the Antonio StradivariusÓCamposeliceÓ (1710) provided by the Nippon Music Foundation, lives in New York with her husband and daughter. ... read full bio

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

Ms. Takezawa has performed as soloist with such prominent ensembles as 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. Abroad, she has been heard with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the London Symphony, the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the NHK Symphony and the New Japan Philharmonic. She has collaborated with many distinguished conductors, including Seiji Ozawa, Sir Colin Davis, Michael Tilson Thomas, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Kurt Masur, Sir Neville Marriner, Leonard Slatkin, Charles Dutoit, Marek Janowski and Sir 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; Musikverain in Vienna and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.

Highlights of Ms. Takezawa's 2006/2007 season included performances in North America with the St.Louis, North Carolina Symphonies.  She toured in Australia with the Queensland and Melbourn Symphonies, and in Asia she performed with the Singapore, NHK, and Kyoto Symphonies, China Philharmonic and Guangzhou Symphony, and gave a recital tour throughout Japan.. She performed at festivals in La Jolla, Busan Music Festival and Great Mountain Music Festival in Korea. In past seasons she performed in North America with the Vancouver, Tucson and Jacksonville, Charlotte, Toronto and Seattle Symphonies. She also performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Japan Philharmonic, Singapore, Nagoya and Osaka Symphony in Asia, and with Denmark's Aarhus Symphony, France's Orchestre National de Lille, and Manchester's Halle Orchestra. She also appeared as the feature soloist on the Hamburg NDR Symphony tour of Japan.

A highly accomplished chamber music performer, Ms. Takezawa has participated in the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, and La Jolla Music Festivals. Ms. Takezawa's chamber music performances have drawn high praise, and as co-director of the Suntory Festival Soloists of Suntory Hall in Tokyo, she has collaborated with the late Isaac Stern, Yo-Yo Ma, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Joseph Suk and many other distinguished artists. In recent seasons, she has performed at the Aspen Festival and at the first Taipei International Chamber Music Festival with Cho-Liang Lin. A former winner of the Indianapolis Violin Competition, Ms. Takezawa was also recently invited to serve as a juror at the competition.

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

Ms. Takezawa began violin studies at the age of 3 and at 7 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, 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 with her husband and daughter.