The Verus String Quartet, formed by young Japanese musicians was founded during their studies at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in 2006. They have appeared in concerts and music festivals throughout Japan. In 2008 they won 3rd prize at the ARD International Music Competition, Germany. They were the first Japanese group to be a prize winner at the competition after 38 years when their mentor, Tokyo String Quartet won the competition. They made their debut performance supported by the Nippon Music Foundation at Oji Hall. Based in Basel, Switzerland, they are studying with Rainer Schmidt, second violinist from the Hagen Quartet at the Music Academy in Basel since 2010 spring. They won the Aoyama Music Prize in Kyoto and performed Dvorak piano quintet with Menahem Pressler in Japan. Other recent appearances in Europe include the Semaine musicale in Bonnieux, France, Wundern-WestWeg Musik in Germany and Schloss Beuggen, Germany. In 2011 they have won the "ex aequo" prize at the Basler Orchester-Gesellschaft competition and 3rd prize at the 7th Osaka International Chambermusic Competition.Their studies have been partly granted by the scholarship from Matsuo foundation, Japan.