Nobuko Imai

Nobuko Imai is considered to be one of the most outstanding viola players of our time. After finishing her studies at the Toho School of Music, Yale University and the Juilliard School, she won the highest prizes at both the Munich and the Geneva international competitions.
Formerly a member of the esteemed Vermeer Quartet, Ms. Imai now combines a distinguished international solo career appearing with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw, Vienna Symphony, Stockholm Philharmonic, London Symphony, the BBC orchestras, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Boston Symphony, and the Chicago Symphony, along with teaching at the Conservatory in Amsterdam and Geneva, where she is a Professor.
A keen chamber musician, Miss Imai has often performed with such distinguished names as Gidon Kremer, Yo Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Andràs Schiff, Isaac Stern and Pinchas Zukerman. In addition she has toured with Midori, performing chamber music, while further collaborators include pianists Ronald Brautigam, and accordionist Mie Miki for recitals. Her trio combinations include con- certs with Pamela Frank and Clemens Hagen, and Mihaela Martin and Frans Hemerson. In 2003, along with Mihaela Martin, Stephan Picard and Frans Helmerson, Nobuko Imai for- med the Michelangelo Quartet, of which the debut concerts at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in 2003 were met with great success leading to many engagements in halls such as Theatre des Champs-Elysees and the Tonhalle, Zurich, and at festivals such as Edinburgh, Naantali and the Tokyo edition of La Folle Journée de Nantes.