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.
In 2022-23, the Juilliard String Quartet welcomes violist Molly Carr, and also performs world premieres, including two works written for the group by celebrated German composer Jörg Widmann, composed to be performed alongside late quartets by Beethoven, which they premiered at the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music. The JSQ also premiere rising American composer Tyson Davis’s String Quartet No. 2 – commissioned by the Kennedy Center, the DaCamera Society of Houston, and Chamber Music Cincinnati. Other season highlights include tours with violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet performing Chausson Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, culminating in a concert at Carnegie Hall; two European tours including stops in Italy, Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic; and concerts in Philadelphia, Detroit, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, and Napa Valley.
Adding to its celebrated discography, an album of works by Beethoven, Bartók, and Dvořák was released by Sony Classical in April 2021 to critical acclaim. Additionally, Sony Masterworks released a JSQ catalog release (The Early Juilliard Recordings) in June 2021. In the fall of 2018, the JSQ released an album on Sony featuring the world premiere recording of Mario Davidovsky’s Fragments (2016), together with Beethoven’s Quartet Op. 95 and Bartók’s Quartet No. 1. Additionally, Sony Classical’s 2014 reissue of the Quartet’s landmark recordings of the first four Elliott Carter String Quartets along with the 2013 recording of Carter’s fifth quartet traces a remarkable period in the evolution of both the composer and the ensemble. 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.
Devoted master teachers, the members of the Juilliard String Quartet offer classes and open rehearsals when on tour. The JSQ is String Quartet in Residence at the Juilliard School and its members – Areta Zhulla, Ronald Copes, Molly Carr, and Astrid Schween – are all sought-after teachers on the string and chamber music faculties. Each May, they host the five-day internationally recognized Juilliard String Quartet Seminar. During the summer, the JSQ works closely on string quartet repertoire with students at the Tanglewood Music Center.