Formed in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music, the Tokyo String Quartet performs over a hundred concerts worldwide each season and is regarded as one of the supreme chamber ensembles of the world. Deeply committed to coaching young string quartets, the Tokyo String Quartet teaches and performs at the prestigious Norfolk Chamber Music Festival each summer, conducts master classes around the world, and since 1976, has served on the faculty of the Yale University School of Music as quartet-in-residence. The ensemble performs on Stradivarius' "Paganini Quartet", a group of instruments named for legendary virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.