With unparalleled artistry and enduring vigor, the Juilliard String Quartet (JSQ) continues to inspire audiences around the world. Founded in 1946 and hailed by The Boston Globe as “the most important American quartet in history,” the ensemble draws on a deep and vital engagement to the classics, while embracing the mission of championing new works, a vibrant combination of the familiar and the daring. Each performance of the Juilliard String Quartet is a unique experience, bringing together the four members’ profound understanding, total commitment, and unceasing curiosity in sharing the wonders of the string quartet literature.
The Juilliard String Quartet is proud to continue their decades-old tradition of commissioning and performing world premieres each season. Recent premieres have included two works by celebrated German composer Jörg Widmann, inspired by Beethoven’s String Quartet, Opus 130; a quartet by Tyson Davis premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.; and a quartet called “Fragments” written by Mario Davidovsky.
This season, the JSQ looks forward to a repeat tour with violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianists Emanuel Ax and Jean-Yves Thibaudet, with appearances in venues including Los Angeles’ Disney Hall and San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall; additionally, they will be collaborating with soprano Tony Arnold and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Other season activities include a world premiere of a new work entitled “Together Apart” dedicated to the JSQ’s late former violist Roger Tapping written by Iraqi-American composer Michelle Ross, as well as tours across Europe and the US with concerts in venues such as London’s Wigmore Hall and the BBC Radio, Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal, Salzburg’s Mozarteum Grosse Saal, the Ravinia Festival, and New York’s Alice Tully Hall.
A facet of the JSQ’s decades-old legacy is a prolific and celebrated discography, with landmark recordings that continue to be rereleased by Sony Masterworks. The Quartet’s latest album on Sony, featuring works by Beethoven, Bartók, and Dvořák, was released to international acclaim with Strings Magazine calling it “a miracle of contrasting color.” Other recent releases include an album featuring the world premiere recording of Mario Davidovsky’s “Fragments” (2016), together with Beethoven’s Quartet Op. 95 and Bartók’s Quartet No. 1. The Quartet’s recordings of the Bartók and Schoenberg Quartets, as well as those of Debussy, Ravel and Beethoven, have won Grammy Awards, and in 2011 the JSQ became the first classical music ensemble to receive a lifetime achievement award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
The JSQ is String Quartet in Residence at the Juilliard School in New York City and its members – Areta Zhulla, Ronald Copes, Molly Carr, and Astrid Schween – are all sought-after teachers on the string and chamber music faculties. The Quartet regularly offers classes and open rehearsals while on tour, and hosts a five-day internationally recognized Juilliard String Quartet Seminar each May at the Juilliard School.
