Juilliard String Quartet | |
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 The Juilliard String Quartet in 2018 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | The Juilliard Quartet |
| Origin | New York City,United States |
| Genres | Classical |
| Occupation | String quartet |
| Instruments | 2 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello |
| Years active | 1946–present |
| Labels | Sony Classical (formerlyColumbia Records andCBS Masterworks) |
| Members | Areta Zhulla Leonard Fu Molly Carr Astrid Schween |
| Past members | see below |
| Website | juilliardstringquartet.org |
TheJuilliard String Quartet (JSQ) is aclassical musicstring quartet founded in 1946 at theJuilliard School inNew York byWilliam Schuman andRobert Mann. Since its inception, it has been the quartet-in-residence at the Juilliard School. It has received numerous awards, including fourGrammys and membership in theNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame. In February 2011, the group received the NARAS Lifetime Achievement Award for its outstanding contributions to recorded classical music.
As of 2025, the quartet's members are violinists Areta Zhulla and Leonard Fu, violist Molly Carr, and cellist Astrid Schween.
The quartet was founded by Juilliard School president William Schuman and violin faculty memberRobert Mann in 1946.[1] The original members were Mann and violinist Robert Koff, violistRaphael Hillyer and cellistArthur Winograd. It began recording withColumbia Records upon its founding.[2] Between March and August 1949, the quartet became the first group to recordBéla Bartók's complete string quartets. Columbia released the recordings in 1950.[2] Around the time of its public and recording debuts, the Juilliard Quartet quickly established itself as a premier American ensemble on the international level.
In 1953, the group was the first to recordArnold Schoenberg's complete quartets.[2] In 1955,Claus Adam replaced Winograd as the group's cellist. In 1958,Isidore Cohen replaced Koff as second violinist.
In 1962, the Juilliard String Quartet replaced theBudapest String Quartet as theLibrary of Congress's quartet in residence.[1] That year, the quartet performed at the Library with a set ofStradivarius instrumentsGertrude Clarke Whittall donated in the 1930s.[3] In 1966, Earl Carlyss replaced Cohen as second violinist and three years later, Samuel Rhodes replaced Hillyer as violist.
In 1974,Joel Krosnick replaced his teacher Adam as the cellist. By 1981, the Juilliard Quartet was said to have performed in over 3,000 concerts in 43 different countries.[4] In 1986, Joel Smirnoff replaced Carlyss as second violinist.[5]
In 1996, Mann announced his intention to retire.[6] He played his last concert as a member of the quartet at theTanglewood Music Festival that year.[7] Smirnoff took over as first violinist and Ronald Copes joined the group as second violinist.[7]
In 2005, the quartet performed inMadrid forQueen Sofía of Spain on the set ofStradivarius Palatinos instruments owned by theRoyal Palace of Madrid.[3] In 2009, Nick Eanet replaced Smirnoff as first violinist.[8] He left the group in 2010 for health reasons and was replaced byJoseph Lin of theFormosa Quartet.[9]
In 2013, Roger Tapping replaced Rhodes as violist. In 2015, the quartet released anapp for Apple'siOS called "Juilliard String Quartet – An Exploration of Schubert's Death and the Maiden". Ulysses Arts issued the recording separately. The London-based app developerTouchpress andthe Juilliard School co-produced the app, which features the quartet in a performance of FranzSchubert'sString Quartet No. 14 in D minor ("Death and the Maiden").[10] In 2016,Astrid Schween replaced Krosnick as cellist, becoming the quartet's first female member.[11] Areta Zhulla then replaced Lin as first violinist.[12] After Tapping's death in 2022, Molly Carr became the quartet's new violist.[13]
The quartet plays a wide range of classical music, and has recorded works byBeethoven,Mendelssohn,Bartók,Debussy andShostakovich, among others, while also promoting more contemporary composers such asElliott Carter,Ralph Shapey,Henri Dutilleux andMilton Babbitt.[14] It has performed with other noted musicians, such asAaron Copland,Glenn Gould,Benita Valente and also (in its early days) the scientistAlbert Einstein. It can be heard on the soundtrack of the movieImmortal Beloved.[15] By the early 1990s, the quartet was said to have produced more than 100 recordings and performed over 500 unique works.[16]
Members of the Juilliard Quartet are also private teachers and chamber coaches at the Juilliard School and at music festivals worldwide.[17][18] Musicians who have studied with the quartet have gone on to become members of theTokyo,Emerson,Shanghai,LaSalle,Concord,Alexander,New World,Brentano,Lark, and theUlysses string quartets among others.[3][5][19]
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