Professor

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Ayako Tanaka, born in Osaka, studied with Tibor Varga and pursued advanced studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon with Peter Csaba, Pavel Vernikov and M. Vaitsner. She graduated with First Prize with Distinction and a Special Jury Prize, and won First Prize at the Rovere d’Oro International Competition. 

As first violinist of the Psophos Quartet from 1997 to 2007, she received international prizes at the London International String Quartet Competition, Osaka International Competition and Vittorio Gui International Competition in Florence, as well as the Grand Prix and International Music Critics’ Prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition. 

From 2009 to 2017, she was Associate Concertmaster of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under Myung-Whun Chung. She was appointed Concertmaster of the Orchestre National de Lille in 2016. Since 2023, she has been Co-Principal Guest Concertmaster of ADDA Sinfónica in Alicante, and since 2025, of the Macao Orchestra. 

In 2024, she joined the Strada Quartet. She is currently Associate Professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. 

She plays a 1628 Niccolò Amati violin, generously loaned by two anonymous patrons.