Martin Beaver

Who is Martin Beaver?

Martin Beaver is a Canadian violinist best known as first violinist of the Tokyo String Quartet. Beaver joined the Tokyo String Quartet as its first violinist in 2002 and remained its first violinist until they disbanded in 2013. As a part of the Tokyo String Quartet, he played the Paganini-Comte Cozio di Salabue violin on loan from the Nippon Foundation, part of the Paganini Quartet collection of instruments made by Antonio Stradivari. Beaver is known for his technical agility, versatility, warm tone, and prodigious memory for the violin repertoire, and he currently performs on a violin made by the luthier Nicola Bergonzi. Now on faculty at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, he remains active in both chamber music and as a soloist, and recently established the Montrose Trio with pianist Jon Kimura Parker and cellist Clive Greensmith.