Japanese string quartet wins 3rd prize at int'l competition in Germany

MUNICH - A Japanese string quartet won third place at the ARD International Music Competition, one of the world's most celebrated competitions for young performing artists, in Munich, southern Germany.

The Quartet Fugue, which performed Beethoven's Op. 127 in E-flat major at Saturday's final, consists of four musicians who studied at the Tokyo University of the Arts -- violinists Mako Ochiai and Kentaro Konishi, violist Soichiro Kawabe, and cellist Soichiro Matsutani.