Aizuri Quartet Will Disband After 13 Years

The GRAMMY Award-nominated Aizuri Quartet has announced that it will disband at the end of April 2025 after 13 years of innovative programming and impact.

The group shares, "After 13 years together, it is with heavy hearts that we announce that we will be disbanding the Aizuri Quartet at the end of this concert season. It has been a joyful and momentous journey making music together, and we are proud of all the wide-ranging programs and projects that we have shared with audiences over the years. Throughout all of the Quartet's iterations, we have remained committed to the group's mission of community, collaboration, and curiosity, and we continue to celebrate this legacy in each of our individual careers. Although this chapter of our lives may be coming to a close, all four of us look forward to the future with excitement and anticipation because of the powerful impact that this quartet has had on our lives and the music world. To all of our cherished friends, family, and collaborators, thank you for your continued support. We truly could not have done it without each and every one of you, and we will be forever grateful. We can't wait to share our new musical chapters with you all!"

Aizuri's final recital will be held on Friday, April 25, 2025 at 7:30pm at Broadway Presbyterian Church in New York City, with all proceeds benefiting the homeless and hungry through Broadway Community. The program is set to include a selection of both commissioned and existing works important to the legacy and mission of the Quartet, featuring quartets by Jennifer Higdon, Franz Schubert, Silvestre Revueltas, Paul Wiancko, and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel.

After the farewell concert on April 25, Aizuri Quartet will appear side-by-side with the New York Youth Symphony's Crescendo Orchestra at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall on Sunday, April 27, 2025 at 3:00pm. Having coached the cohort of students from all over NYC's five boroughs who make up the NYYS's tuition-free Crescendo program, Aizuri Quartet will appear with these young musicians to perform the solo string quartet part of Elgar's Introduction and Allegro, Op. 47.

In this closing chapter, The Aizuri Quartet celebrates a wealth of accomplishments since its formation in 2012. They released two acclaimed recordings, beginning with their GRAMMY-nominated 2019 album Blueprinting, featuring works by Lembit Beecher, Yevgeniy Sharlat, Caroline Shaw, Gabriella Smith, and Paul Wiancko. They followed up in 2023 with Earthdrawn Skies, a personal exploration of the interplay between humankind and the natural world, as portrayed through the highly varied works of Hildegard von Bingen, Eleanor Alberga, Komitas Vartabed, and Jean Sibelius.

Their live performances have brought world premieres of such works as Jennifer Higdon's Azure Waves, written for the Aizuri Quartet in celebration of the Buffalo Chamber Music Society's 100th Anniversary Season; Layale Chaker's Matrescence (2023, recipient of Chamber Music America's Commissioning Grant); David Serkin Ludwig's Organistrum (2022, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society commission) - premiered with Anthony McGill and Demarre McGill; Lembit Beecher's These Are Not Estonian Flowers (2021, Phillips Collection commission); Paul Wiancko's Purple Antelope Sound Squeeze (2021, Phillips Collection commission); and Michi Wiancko's Murasaki's Moon (2019, chamber opera commissioned by On Site Opera and Met Live Arts).

Among the Aizuri Quartet's numerous world premieres, they paved the way for contemporary works that would become standard repertoire for quartets and chamber music organizations around the globe. Works like Gabriella Smith's Carrot Revolution (co-commissioned by The Barnes Foundation and Curtis on Tour), Paul Wiancko's LIFT (commissioned by Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts), and Caroline Shaw's Blueprint (commissioned by Wolf Trap) have appeared on recital programs ever since the Aizuri Quartet premiered them in 2015 and 2016.

In combination with the great string quartet repertoire of centuries past, these works have helped define the legacy they leave as a group, characterized by the melding of music and storytelling with a fresh thematic perspective. "We have taken audiences on a journey by exploring dialogues between beloved works of the string quartet canon and lesser-known gems ranging from the Middle Ages to the present day," the artists shared. "By writing our own program notes and speaking from the stage about our love for this music, we have personalized the concert experience and connected directly with our audiences. Our thematic interests embody a holistic approach, connecting music with the many varied layers of the human experience."

The quartet's passion for education and hands-on work with young artists has brought about numerous opportunities to teach and collaborate, with recent projects including residencies with the University of Iowa (Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Professors), Florida State University, Friends of Chamber Music Kansas City, Montana Chamber Music, and the New York Youth Symphony ensemble Crescendo, as well as many composition workshops and chamber music masterclasses. The quartet has also been recognized as a recipient of the Cleveland Quartet Award from Chamber Music America, and a featured ensemble in the WQXR Artist Propulsion Lab. Its AizuriKids initiative, launched in 2020 during the pandemic, offered a free online series of educational videos for children, using the string quartet as a catalyst for creative learning.

During the 2017-2018 season, the Aizuri Quartet served as the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Met Live Arts String Quartet in Residence, leading to the commissioning of Kinan Azmeh's The Fence, the Rooftop, and the Distant Sea (clarinet quintet version); Can Bilir's Irresolvable Fragment; Pauchi Sasaki's Diente de Léon; Wang Lu's Between Air; and Michi Wiancko's Lullaby for the Transient.

The quartet has also taken part in notable collaborations with Marcy Rosen, Kim Kashkashian, Kinan Azmeh, Wilco, Kronos Quartet, Anthony McGill, Demarre McGill, Jonathan Biss, Roberto Díaz, and Peter Wiley.

The Aizuri Quartet was founded by violinists Miho Saegusa and Zoë Martin-Doike, violist Ayane Kozasa, and cellist Karen Ouzounian. Violinist Ariana Kim was a member of the quartet from 2016-2019, and violinist Emma Frucht joined the ensemble in 2019. Following the departures of Kozasa and Ouzounian in 2023, the quartet welcomed violist Brian Hong and cellist Caleb van der Swaagh, who joined Frucht and Saegusa to complete its current configuration.

Looking forward, violinist Miho Saegusa will continue as a member of the celebrated Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, where she often leads as one of the concertmasters, taking part in Orpheus community initiatives such as Reflections and Access Orpheus and currently serving as one of the Musician Trustees. In addition to solo, chamber music, and orchestral performances, Saegusa will continue to share her love of music and collaboration with the next generation of artists and ensembles.

Emma Frucht, violinist, was recently appointed as a member of the Chamber Ensemble of the Orchestra of St. Luke's in New York City. In addition to her work with St. Luke's, she is excited to dedicate her time to new creative solo projects and collaborations, as well as teaching at Adelphi University and in her private studio.

Violist Brian Hong looks forward to further developing his career in higher education through his studio and chamber music instruction at Bard College Conservatory of Music. He will also dedicate his efforts to nurturing the evolution of his festival and collective, NEXUS Chamber Music, and expanding his role in the non-profit sector by continuing his work for marginalized communities through Project: Music Heals Us.

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