Quartet Integra
Biography Quartet Integra
Quartet Integra
Described as having “an enormous wealth of colors… and sparkling rhythms” (All News Press), Quartet Integra has rapidly gained international acclaim. The ensemble has received major prizes including Second Prize and the Audience Award at the 2022 ARD International Music Competition in Munich, First Prize at the 2021 Bartók World Competition in Budapest, and Third Prize along with the Sidney Griller Award at the 2025 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London.
Formed in 2015 at the Toho Gakuen Music High School in Tokyo, Quartet Integra came together by four passionate teenage musicians and has ever since developed a deep and enduring musical bond, marked by a shared curiosity and devotion to the string quartet repertoire.
Now based in Hannover, Quartet Integra is expanding its presence across Europe, recent and upcoming engagements including the Heidelberger Frühling ‒ Streichquartettfest in Heidelberg, the Kammermusik in Wiesbaden concert series, and the Smetana Days Festival at the Plzeň Philharmonic in Pilsen, as well as performances at the Alte Oper Frankfurt and in Bad Tölz, Merano, and Budapest.
During their residency at the Colburn School in Los Angeles (2022‒2025), Quartet Integra appeared in leading series and festivals across the United States, including the Schneider Concert Series at The New School, the Green Shoots Initiative at the Kennedy Center, the Discovery Series at the La Jolla Music Society, the Artist Series at the University of Colorado Boulder, and the Nevada Chamber Music Festival.
Quartet Integra maintains close ties with its artistic roots in Japan, giving annual recitals at Toppan Hall in Tokyo presenting a Bartók-focused series, and at Oji Hall, having presented a Schubert and Webern series and anticipating to explore Mozart and Mendelssohn. In 2025, the ensemble launched a six-year Beethoven cycle at Dai-ichi Seimei Hall, Philia Hall, and several other major venues across Japan, marking as one of the most ambitious chamber music projects in the country today.
Quartet Integra has performed with artists such as Alexander Melnikov and Augustin Hadelich, and continues to refine its artistry through collaborations and mentorship in the international chamber-music community.
Contemporary music forms an important part of Quartet Integra’s artistic activity. In 2023, the ensemble performed both of György Ligeti’s string quartets in a concert at Toppan Hall marking the composer’s centenary, demonstrating their deep engagement with the 20th-century repertoire. They have also received guidance from the Arditti String Quartet, an experience that offered valuable insights into the performance practice of contemporary music. In addition, Quartet Integra has commissioned and premiered works by Japanese composers, engaging with new ideas and contributing fresh voices to the quartet literature.
Quartet Integra consists of first violinist Kyoka Misawa, second violinist Rintaro Kikuno, violist Itsuki Yamamoto, and cellist Ye Un Park. The quartet received its early training with Kazuhide Isomura and Nobuko Yamazaki at the Toho Gakuen School of Music and as fellows at the Suntory Hall Chamber Music Academy. From 2022 to 2025, they served as Chamber Ensemble-in-Residence at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, under the guidance of Martin Beaver, Jonathan Brown, and Clive Greensmith. They are currently continuing their artistic development under Oliver Wille at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, and are also in residence at ProQuartet ‒ Centre Européen de Musique de Chambre for the 2025‒2027 seasons.
