Hisato Osawa Piano Quintet

Biography

Luri Lee has been praised as "the perfect chamber music partner" (Bachtrack), with playing described as “spotlessly clean and with never a routine phrase” (The Calgary Herald). She has performed across North America, Europe, and Asia as both a soloist and chamber musician, captivating audiences with her artistry.

As a founding member of the Rolston String Quartet, Lee has earned numerous accolades, including Chamber Music America's Cleveland Quartet Award, First Prize at the 12th Banff International String Quartet Competition, and Grand Prizes at both the 31st Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition and the Astral Artists National Auditions. The quartet's debut album, Souvenirs (2020)—an all-Tchaikovsky recording—was named Recording of the Year by BBC Music Magazine. They have performed at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Louvre, the Kennedy Center, Koerner Hall, and Wigmore Hall.

In 2022, Lee joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and was appointed Assistant Concertmaster in 2024. She is also a faculty member at the Taylor Academy of the Royal Conservatory of Music. Playing a Carlo Tononi violin, generously on loan from Shauna Rolston Shaw, Lee continues to inspire audiences and students alike. When not performing, she enjoys traveling with her husband, violist Hezekiah Leung, exploring new destinations and discovering hidden culinary treasures.

Eri Kosaka joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2012 and became Principal Second Violin in 2022. Prior to her current position, Ms. Kosaka was a member of the Kansas City Symphony for two seasons and a violin fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach. Growing up in Tokyo, Japan, Ms. Kosaka started playing the violin at age six and took lessons with Akiko Tatsumi and Michael Tseitlin. After graduating from Toho High School of Music and Toho Gakuen College of Music in Japan, she was awarded a scholarship from the Yamaha Foundation to study abroad. Ms. Kosaka graduated with a Master of Music and Graduate Diploma from the New England Conservatory where she studied with Miriam Fried. She has participated in festivals and music academies across the U.S., Japan, and Europe, including the Aspen Music Festival and Sarasota Music Festival in the U.S., Pacific Music Festival in Japan, Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany, Salzburg Music Academy in Austria, and Courchevel International Music Academy in France. As a soloist, she has performed with the San Diego Symphony, Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, and Central Aichi Orchestra.

Praised for his "lovely lyricism" by The Calgary Herald, Hezekiah Leung has been featured as a performer throughout North America and Europe as both a soloist and as the founding violist of the Rolston String Quartet — winner of the First Prize at the 12th Banff International String Quartet Competition.

After completing his studies as a violinist at the University of Michigan under the tutelage of Stephen Shipps, Leung pursued his artist diploma on the viola with Stephen Dann and Barry Shiffman and received top prizes in the Glenn Gould Chamber Music Competition as well as the 74th Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal Standard Life Competition. He holds a Masters degree from Rice University, an Artist Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music and was part of the Fellowship Quartet in Residence at the Yale School of Music as a member of the Rolston String Quartet.

Leung has shared the concert stage with such artists as Tabea Zimmerman, Leif Ove Andsnes, Gilbert Kalish, Jon Kimura Parker, Miguel da Silva, James Dunham, Paul Neubauer, Yura Lee, Donald Palma, Joel Quarrington, Andrés Díaz, Gary Hoffman, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Cho-Liang Lin, Tara Helen O'Connor, David Shifrin Sharon Kam and James Campbell.

As a founding member of the Rolston String Quartet, he was also awarded Grand Prize at the 31st Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition, as well as the Astral Artists National Auditions. The quartet has performed at some of the most prestigious concert venues on the globe, including Carnegie Hall, the Louvre, Kennedy Center, Koerner Hall and Wigmore Hall. Keeping in the teaching tradition, they have taught at the Yale School of Music, University of Toronto, and the Bowdoin International Music Festival among others. Their debut album Souvenirs, an all-Tchaikovsky released in 2020 was named Recording of the Year by BBC Music Magazine. Leung joined the Dover Quartet as their violist for the 2022-2023 season and has served on faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music and at Northwestern Bienen School of Music.

Described as a "pure chamber musician" (Globe and Mail) creating "moments of pure magic" (Toronto Star), Canadian cellist Rachel Mercer is Principal Cello of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and Co-Artistic Director of the "5 at the First" Chamber Music Series in Hamilton. With a first love of chamber music, Rachel regularly collaborates with her longtime duo partner, pianist Angela Park, and was cellist of JUNO award-winning piano quartet Ensemble Made In Canada (2008-2020), the AYR Trio (2010-2020), and the Aviv Quartet (2002-2010). An advocate for new Canadian music, Rachel has commissioned and premiered over 30 works including cello concerti by Stewart Goodyear and Kevin Lau, as well as solo and chamber music. Her most recent album of the chamber music of Kevin Lau with the St. John - Mercer - Park Trio was released in 2023 on Leaf Music, and her critically acclaimed album of the Bach Suites was recorded on the 1696 Bonjour Stradivarius Cello from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank.

Rachel plays a 17th century cello from Northern Italy.

Pianist Tomoko Inui is the citizen of the world. In 2004, she was given the Bruneau Prize from McGill for her exceptional solo recital. She has been actively playing solo and chamer music through the Access Montreal City Culture Program since 2006. She is a professor at pre-conservatoire de musique de montreal and has worked as an official accompanist at Queens University, an organist at Eglise Saint Arsene, and a pianist for the Montreal West Operatic Society. Tomoko is an avid chamber musician, having performed with the Alexander String Quartet in Florence, Italy (2008), cellists Laurentieu Sbarcea in Marianzke Lazne, Czech Republic (2003) and Valentin Scharff in Liesing, Austria (2014 & 2015), and violist Marcus Thompson in Montreal (2016-2019). Her concert appearances include the International Music Festival and Workshop (2003-2011). Summer in 2014&2015, she worked for the FriedensKonzert (peace concert) in Liesing, Austria. She has done the recording projects of music by Mozart, Chopin, Ravel, and Rachmaninoff with the recording engineer Meining Cheung (2008 and 2013). She has a Licentiate and Master's degree in piano solo performance from McGill University, and also holds a PhD and previously worked in the field of physical oceanography for many years.