MARTIN BEAVER
VIOLIN
GALLERY | BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | CONCERTO | DISCOGRAPHY | LINKS
GALLERY
Photography Linsay Lozon, Toronto
Click each image to download
BIOGRAPHY
First violinist of the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet, Martin Beaver remains one of Canada’s violin ambassadors to the international concert stages. An active musician for recital, concerto and quartet performances, his membership with the Tokyo Quartet, sees Martin performing an extensive schedule exceeding 80 concerts each season. The members of the Tokyo Quartet have served on the faculty of the Yale School of Music since 1976 as quartet-in-residence.
As a soloist, Martin has been a concerto artist with orchestras around the world, including the San Francisco Symphony, the National Orchestra of Belgium, Mexico City Orchestra, the Portuguese Radio Orchestra and all major orchestras of Canada. Martin has collaborated with many esteemed artists including violinist Pinchas Zukerman and eminent conductors such as Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Raymond Leppard, Leon Fleisher, and Charles Dutoit. In recitals, Martin has enchanted audiences in cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, New York, Chicago, Washington, DC, Honolulu, Brussels, London and Edinburgh. He has also been invited to such festivals as the Ravinia Festival (Rising Stars Series), Concerts Under the Dome (Chicago), Seattle Chamber Music Festival, OstBelgien Festival (Belgium), Music in Blair Atholl (Scotland) and at all major Canadian festivals.
A recipient of many awards, Martin was the first to be awarded the use of the 1729 `ex-Heath' Guarneri del Gesù violin on loan from The Canada Council for the Arts-Musical Instrument Bank. He has also been the recipient of the Canada Council's prestigious Virginia P. Moore Award for being the most promising young Canadian artist. Martin received top prizes at the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Belgium, 1990 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and the 1991 Montreal International Music Competition.
A former pupil of Victor Danchenko, Josef Gingold and Henryk Szeryng, Martin Beaver has served on the faculties of The Royal Conservatory in Toronto, University of British Columbia and Peabody Conservatory of the John Hopkins University. He is currently on the faculty at the Steinhardt School at New York University.
(Martin Beaver is available for engagements on a limited schedule.)
(as of October 2009)
REVIEWS
“A renowned soloist and chamber musician, Beaver shows off his amazing talents presentation of Russian compositions…Beaver gives a stellar rendering from start to finish.” [Russian Serenade: CBC Records]
- PERFORMING ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT IN CANADA
"...Beaver kept the excitement high from beginning to end. His passionate playing maintained a drive and focus that never wavered."
- THE OTTAWA CITIZEN
"The performance was rich in expression and lucid in its ideas."
- SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
"All were delivered with aplomb by Beaver, with firm, warm tone and disarming ease in the passage work."
- THE FREE PRESS, Winnipeg
"His playing is energetic and musical at the same time...his attack is forceful, his effects strong...no easy sentimentality, flawless accuracy of tone backing up a flawless technique."
- JOURNAL et INDEPENDENCE
"His tone was beautiful and vibrant throughout, and his playing was consistenly smooth and expressive through all the difficulties and transitions in the [Brahms Concerto]."
- ERIE DAILY TIMES
PREFERRED CONCERTO LIST
2010-2011
Bach Concerto BWV 1041, BWV 1042 & Double Concerto
Beethoven Concerto, Romance Nos. 1 & 2, Triple Concerto
Brahms Concerto & Double Concerto
Bruch Concerto No. 1
Chausson Concerto for Violin and Piano & Quartet
Glazunov Concerto
Haydn Concerto Nos. 1 & 4
Lalo Symphonie Espagnole
Alexina Louie Thunder gate, Arch
Mendelssohn Concerto in e minor & Concerto in d minor, Double Concerto for Violin & Piano
Mozart All Concerti
Paganini Concerto No. 1 in D Major & Concerto No. 2 in b minor
Prokofiev Concerto Nos. 1 & 2
Saint-Saens Concerto No. 3
Sibelius Concerto
Stravinsky Concerto
Tchaikovsky Concerto
Vieuxtemps Concerto No. 5
Vivaldi Four Seasons & various Concerti
Wieniawski Concerto No. 2
Recital repertoire available upon request
Master classes and workshops available
Other concerti available upon request
DISCOGRAPHY
Bach: Goldberg Variations (w/ Triskelion) CBC MVCD 110
Brahms & Jenner Trios (w/ Coop and Hackelman) CBC MVCD1133
Festival of Sound - Compilation (Strauss, Saint Saens et al) CBC MVCD1089
Mozart Flute Quartets (w/ Forysthe, G'froerer and Zukerman) CBC MVCD1143
Music of de Fossa (w/ Wynberg and Epperson) Naxos 8.550760
Russian Violin Concertos CBC SMCD5209
(w/ Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Komatsu)
Shattered Night, Shivering Stars CBC SMCD5190
(music by Alexina Louie: National Arts Centre Orchestra, Bernardi)
With the Tokyo String Quartet
Beethoven String Quartets. Op. 74 and 95 Harmonia Mundi
Beethoven String Quartets op. 18 Nos. 1-6 Harmonia Mundi
Beethoven "Razumovsky" Quartets Op. 59, No. 1-3 Harmonia Mundi
Mozart String Quartets K.575, K.589, K.590 Biddulph Recordings
LINKS
Artist Website
www.tokyoquartet.com
ACADEMIC AFFILIATION
NYU Steinhardt
www.steinhardt.nyu.edu
INSTRUMENTALISTS
Piano
Lucille Chung*
Jane Coop
Michael Kim
James Parker
Wonny Song*
Piano Duo
Anagnoson & Kinton
Violin
Martin Beaver
Alexandre Da Costa*
Erika Raum
Cello
Kaori Yamagami
Bassoon
Nadina Mackie Jackson*
ENSEMBLES
Piano Trio
Gryphon Trio
Trumpet & Bassoon Duo
guy&nadina*
Violin & Piano Duo
Da Costa & Song*
NARRATOR
Colin Fox
WORLD MUSIC
Indian Ghazals & Punjabi Folk Songs
Kiran Ahluwalia*
Cuban Music Ensemble
Luis Mario Ochoa Quintet*
SPECIAL PROJECT
Music-as-Theatre
The Schumann Letters*
*First AKAM Season