Grace Takeda

Grace’s musical endeavors have taken her into various music genres, including Western classical music, jazz, baroque, contemporary, and free improvisation. Currently based in Philadelphia, PA, she sustains a multifaceted career as a performer, educator, and arts advocate. Grace is the violist in the Vera Quartet and also plays with many different ensembles, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Princeton Symphony, and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. She participated in the Community Artist Program and Fellowship ‘20–22 at the Curtis Institute and developed her passion project, MUSEical Tales, a program combining music and literacy education. She also served as the ‘22–23 Director of Partnerships for a music education organization, Practice.Party, where she built and maintained relationships with partner organizations nationwide.

Grace joined the Vera Quartet as their violist in 2021. Two works were commissioned in her time with the quartet: It Takes a Village by Alexis Lamb, a piece for string quartet and community members, and Milk Tooth by Elise Arancio for string quartet and toy percussion. Their mentors have been Peter Oundijian, Danish Quartet, Harumi Rhodes, and the Brentano Quartet. They have held residencies at the Colorado Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire, Music for Autism, and the Harpa International Music Academy USA.

A native of North Vancouver, B.C., Canada, Grace began her studies on the violin at the age of four after being awed and inspired by Sailor Neptune, a character from her favorite tv show as a child, Sailor Moon, playing Boccherini’s Minuet on the violin. At age six, she started taking piano lessons, following in her older sister’s footsteps, performing in provincial and national festivals on both instruments.

She seized an opportunity in the midst of her undergraduate degree as a violin major to delve into viola playing while preparing W.A. Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with her best friend. Immediately, she realized her love of lower frequencies and has not turned back since.

She has played in several viola masterclasses with Tabea Zimmerman, Nobuko Imai, Kim Kashkashian, and Atar Arad. Her primary viola mentors have been Misha Amory, Roberto Diaz, Edward Gazouleas, Hsin-Yun Huang, Andre Roy, and Steve Tenenbom.