The Tokyo String Quartet, a mainstay of chamber music since the 1970s, will disband at the end of next season. The last two charter members, violinist Kikuei Ikeda and violist Kazuhide Isomura, planned to retire in June 2013; faced with replacing them, the remaining members, violinist Martin Beaver and cellist Clive Greensmith, decided to disband the ensemble, Anastasia Tsioulcas reports on NPR’s Deceptive Cadence blog:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2012/04/20/151063275/the-tokyo-string-quartet-bids-farewell