Takezawa Kyoko

Takezawa Kyoko began violin studies at the age of three. When she was a student at Toho Gakuen Music High School, she won First Prize at the 51st Music Competition of Japan along with the Leucadia Prize and Kuroyanagi Prize. In 1986, Takezawa was awarded the Gold Medal at the second Quadrennial International Violin Competition in Indianapolis. Since then, she has been ascending in international stardom.
Takezawa has performed as soloist with such prominent orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestras of Montreal and London, the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lyon National Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, L’Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. She has collaborated with many distinguished conductors, including Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Leonard Slatkin, Charles Dutoit, Riccardo Chailly, Kent Nagano, Christoph Eschenbach, Herbert Blomstedt, and Seiji Ozawa.
In 2011, Takezawa joined the Spanish tour of the Philharmonia Orchestra, and in 2012, she served as a soloist at the concert in Japan with the NDR Symphony Orchestra Hamburg under the baton of Thomas Hengelbrock. In 2014, Takezawa performed as soloist in the 100th anniversary world tour of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and her performances were highly rated. In the 2018 season, celebrating her 30th anniversary as violinist, she gave a recital tour in various regions with great success.
Based on her experience of studying the violin at the Talent Education Research Institute, Takezawa also engages in educational activities. She serves as a juror at a number of international competitions including Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists and Concours international Marguerite-Long-Jacques-Thibaud. Takezawa has participated in world-famous music festivals, such as Aspen, Lucerne, Mito Chamber Orchestra and Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival. She is active in a wide range of fields including concertos, chamber music concerts and recitals.
A prolific recording artist, Takezawa can be heard on BMG’s RCA Victor Red Seal label. She received the 3rd Idemitsu Award and Aichi Prefecture Art Cultural Award. Takezawa plays an Antonio Stradivarius made in 1724. Currently she is a professor at Tokyo College of Music and a specially appointed professor at Toho Gakuen School of Music.
Takezawa is a resident artist of Shiiki presents Argerich’s Haus.