The Tokyo String Quartet will perform at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, in the UGA Performing Arts Center’s Hodgson Concert Hall in Athens.

Long regarded as one of the world’s premier chamber ensembles, the Tokyo String Quartet has announced that the 2012-2013 season will be its last. For its final appearance in Athens, the ensemble will perform a program of quartets by Beethoven, Webern and Schubert.

The group, formed in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music, traces its origins to the Toho School of Music in Tokyo. Soon after its formation, the musicians won First Prize at the Coleman Competition, the Munich Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions.

During the final season, the quartet will tour the major cities of Europe, including Vienna, Copenhagen, London, Amsterdam, Zurich, Paris, Rome, Moscow and Warsaw, in addition to performing throughout the United States.

The quartet’s final U.S. performance will take place on July 6 at Yale University, where the ensemble has been in-residence since 1976.

The Tokyo String Quartet’s recordings of Brahms, Debussy, Dvorák, Haydn, Mozart, Ravel and Schubert have earned numerous international honors, including seven Grammy nominations.

The concert will be recorded for broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today.

Tickets are $39 with discounts for UGA students. They can be purchased online at pac.uga.edu or by calling the box office at 706-542-4400 or toll free at 888-289-8497.