Nishizaki, Takako
Nishizaki, Takako
Nishizaki, Takako, Japanese violinist; b. Aichi Prefecture, April 14, 1944. She was born to musical parents and received early instruction from her father. He then was the first student of Suzuki, and subsequently pursued training with Broadus Erie (violin) and Saito (cello) at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo (1960–63). In 1962 she was accepted as a violin student of Joseph Fuchs at the Juilliard School of Music in N.Y., where she took first prize in its concerto competition in 1967. After winning second prize in the Leventritt competition in 1964, she toured extensively in the Far East, North America, and Europe. In addition to the standard repertoire, she has won particular notice for her championship of rarely performed concertos by Spohr, Bériot, Joachim, Cui, Anton Rubinstein, and Respighi. She has also acquired a notable reputation as a performer of scores by Chinese composers.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire