The Gen Quartet
Tomoko Tanaka Mao was born in Nagoya, Japan. She started violin at the age of four. At seven, she became the youngest musician ever to win first prize at the Kumaniti Violin Competition. Her many awards include the West Japan Rising Star Musician Award and the New World Symphony Concerto Competition. After graduating from the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music in Japan, she obtained a master's degree from the New England Conservatory in Boston.
She has studied with Pinchas Zukerman, Vladimir Spivakov, Masuko Ushioda(pupil of Joseph Szigeti, Toru Yasunaga(Concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic), Marylou Speaker Churchill(Principal of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Koichiro Harada (First violin of the Tokyo String Quartet). She also studied chamber music under the tutelage of the Bartok Quartet and the Cleveland Quartet.
At the New World Symphony Orchestra, she was appointed by Michael Tilson Thomas as Associate concertmaster, a position she also held at the Middle Japan Orchestra. She joined the Hong Kong Philharmonic in 1997.
Mao Yi-Guo was born in Shanghai. He commenced violin studies at the age of 8, eventually becoming a student at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, studying under Professor Yu Lina, Professor Zhang Shixiang and Chen Xinchi. He was awarded both the middle school diploma and bachelor degree in performance from the conservatory.
He went on to study with professor Alexander Meshibovsky at West Virginia University and obtained a master’s degree in performance. After winning the young artist competition at the university, he was invited to take part in the Grand Titan Music Festival. As well as being the concertmaster of the West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra, he has worked with the National Orchestral Institute in Maryland, the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the Missouri Chamber Orchestra.
In 1996 he moved back to Asia taking up the position of concertmaster both with the Korean Symphony Orchestra and Su Won Chamber Orchestra with which he also appeared as soloist. In 2001 he joined the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ethan Ford Heath, a native of Rochester, Minnesota, began playing the viola at age nine. After graduating from Interlochen Arts Academy, he continued his studies at the Eastman School of Music, The Juilliard School, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. His teachers included John Graham, Samuel Rhodes, Robert Vernon, Heidi Castleman, Masao Kawasaki, and Yizhak Schotten.
He has appeared as chamber musician in Alice Tully Hall and NYU's Miller Theater, at the Aspen, Breckenridge, Sarasota, and Park City Music Festivals and in venues around Hong Kong.
Mr Heath has held the position of Assistant Principal Viola in the Akron and Canton Symphonies, and has also performed with the North Carolina Symphony, the New World Symphony, the Ohio Chamber Orchestra, the Asian Friendly Festival Orchestra in Fukuoka, Japan, and the Guangzhou Symphony in China. Since joining the Hong Kong Philharmonic in 1998, he has also been invited to play as Guest Assistant Principal of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta on their 2004 European Tour.
Timothy Frank joined the Hong Kong Philharmonic in 1995. A native of Virginia, he earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory and a Master of Music from Indiana University. Immediately prior to his appointment to the HKPO he won the position of Assistant Principal Cello in the Memphis Symphony.
He has performed at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center with the New York String Orchestra under the late Alexander Schneider, and played in the National Repertory Orchestra of Colorado. He has participated in numerous chamber music festivals including the Juilliard Quartet Seminar, Taos School of Music, Mendelssohn Quartet Seminar and Music at the Gainey Center.
As a three-time participant in the Pacific Music Festival, he played concerts throughout Japan. While still a student, Mr Frank played for four years with the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, Ohio, appointed as the orchestra's youngest member. His main teachers have been Norman Fischer, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and Peter Rejto.
