The Juilliard String Quartet (JSQ) is a

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

founded in 1946 at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

in New York by William Schuman and Robert Mann. Since its inception, it has been the quartet-in-residence at the Juilliard School. It has received numerous awards, including four

Grammys The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

and membership in the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...

Hall of Fame. In February 2011, the group received the NARAS Lifetime Achievement Award for its outstanding contributions to recorded classical music. As of 2022, the quartet's members are violinists Areta Zhulla and Ronald Copes, violist Molly Carr, and cellist Astrid Schween.

History

First era: 1946–1996

The quartet was founded by Juilliard School president William Schuman and violin faculty member Robert Mann in 1946. The original members were Mann and violinist Robert Koff, violist Raphael Hillyer and cellist Arthur Winograd. It began recording with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

upon its founding. Between March and August 1949, the quartet became the first group to record

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

's complete string quartets. Columbia released the recordings in 1950. 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 record

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

's complete quartets. 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 the Budapest String Quartet as the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

's quartet in residence. That year, the quartet performed at the Library with a set of Stradivarius instruments Gertrude Clarke Whittall donated in the 1930s. 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. In 1986, Joel Smirnoff replaced Carlyss as second violinist. In 1996, Mann announced his intention to retire. He played his last concert as a member of the quartet at the Tanglewood Music Festival that year. Smirnoff took over as first violinist and Ronald Copes joined the group as second violinist.

21st century: 1997–present

In 2005, the quartet performed in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

for Queen Sofía of Spain on the set of Stradivarius Palatinos instruments owned by the Royal Palace of Madrid. In 2009, Nick Eanet replaced Smirnoff as first violinist. He left the group in 2010 for health reasons and was replaced by Joseph Lin of the Formosa Quartet. In 2013, Roger Tapping replaced Rhodes as violist. In 2015, the quartet released an app for Apple's

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

called "Juilliard String Quartet – An Exploration of Schubert's Death and the Maiden". Ulysses Arts issued the recording separately. The London-based app developer Touchpress and

the Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

co-produced the app, which features the quartet in a performance of Franz

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

's String Quartet No. 14 in D minor ("Death and the Maiden"). In 2016, Astrid Schween replaced Krosnick as cellist, becoming the quartet's first female member. Areta Zhulla then replaced Lin as first violinist. After Tapping's death in 2022, Molly Carr became the quartet's new violist.

Repertoire

The quartet plays a wide range of classical music, and has recorded works by

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

, Bartók,

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

and Shostakovich, among others, while also promoting more contemporary composers such as

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer who was one of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century. He combined elements of European modernism and American " ...

, Ralph Shapey, Henri Dutilleux and Milton Babbitt. It has performed with other noted musicians, such as

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

, Glenn Gould, Benita Valente and also (in its early days) the scientist

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

. It can be heard on the soundtrack of the movie

Immortal Beloved The Immortal Beloved (German "Unsterbliche Geliebte") is the addressee of a love letter which composer Ludwig van Beethoven wrote on 6 or 7 July 1812 in Teplitz (then in the Austrian Empire, now in the Czech Republic). The unsent letter is writ ...

. By the early 1990s, the quartet was said to have produced more than 100 recordings and performed over 500 unique works.

Members

First violin

* 1946 Robert Mann * 1997 Joel Smirnoff * 2009 Nick Eanet * 2011 Joseph Lin * 2018 Areta Zhulla

Second violin

* 1946 * 1958 Isidore Cohen * 1966 Earl Carlyss * 1986 Joel Smirnoff * 1997 Ronald Copes

Viola

* 1946 Raphael Hillyer * 1969 * 2013 Roger Tapping * 2022 Molly Carr

Violoncello

* 1946 Arthur Winograd * 1955 Claus Adam * 1974 Joel Krosnick * 2016 Astrid Schween

Teaching

Members of the Juilliard Quartet are also private teachers and chamber coaches at the Juilliard School and at music festivals worldwide. Musicians who have studied with the quartet have gone on to become members of the

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Emerson,

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, LaSalle, Concord,

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

, Brentano,

Lark Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occ ...

, and the Ulysses string quartets among others.

Awards

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

References

External links

Juilliard String Quartet
Juilliard String Quartet official site
Colbert Artists Management: Juilliard String Quartet
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1946 American string quartets Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Juilliard School faculty