The Tokyo String Quartet. Photo by Peter Checchia

The Tokyo String Quartet, One of the world’s premier chamber ensembles, returns to San Francisco Performances for a recital with clarinetist Sabine Meyer on Thursday, Oct. 16, at 8 p.m. at the Herbst Theatre, located inside the War Memorial Veterans Building, at 401 Van Ness Ave. at McAllister Street.

The quartet will perform Beethoven’s String Quartet in G Major, Opus 18, No. 2, Bartók’s String Quartet No. 5, and, on the second half of the program, Brahms’ Quintet in B minor for Clarinet and Strings, Opus 115 with Meyer.

This will be the Tokyo String Quartet’s 10th concert for San Francisco Performances, including a performance in 2006 with Meyer. Officially formed in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music, the ensemble — violinists Martin Beaver and Kikuei Ikeda, violist Kazuhide Isomura and cellist Clive Greensmith — has collaborated with a remarkable array of artists and composers.

Members of the ensemble have served on the faculty of the Yale School of Music as quartet-in-residence since 1976 and remain deeply committed to coaching young students. The quartet has released more than 40 landmark recordings, originally on the Deutsche Grammophon label and now with Harmonia Mundi.

The Tokyo String Quartet performs on the “Paganini Quartet,” a group of renowned Stradivarius instruments named for legendary virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, who acquired and played them during the 19th century. The instruments have been on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation since 1995.

German-born Meyer established herself as a soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and has since been engaged by all the world’s leading orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, London Philharmonic and others. She is also a fervent supporter of chamber music, and has collaborated with such colleagues as Heinrich Schiff, Gidon Kremer, Leif Ove Andsnes and, of course, the Tokyo Quartet.

In 1983, she founded Trio di Clarone with her husband, Reiner Wehle, and her brother, Wolfgang Meyer; their repertoire includes some almost forgotten compositions by Mozart and many contemporary works. In 1988, Meyer founded Bläserensemble Sabine Meyer, which gathers leading wind players from around the world to perform together.
Tickets are $49 and $32. For more information: (415) 392-2545, www.performances.org.

San Francisco Performances

San Francisco Performances is recognized as one of the leading presenters in the world. Founded by Ruth Felt in 1979 with a season of seven concerts, the organization is now in its 29th season and features more than 60 mainstage performances of chamber music, recitals, contemporary dance and jazz.

Through the years, SFP has presented more than 100 premieres and San Francisco debuts, introducing such acclaimed artists in recital as pianist Thomas Adès, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, as well as presenting international dance companies such as Israel’s Batsheva and Spain’s Compáñia Nacional de Danza.