The ensemble
has always been immersed in new music. In addition to giving over
sixty premieres of new American works, it gave the first performances
of Bartók’s quartets in the United States, and its
performances of Schoenberg’s quartets in the ’50s helped
save those works from obscurity. More recently the quartet has become
an advocate for Elliott Carter, and it worked with the composer
to prepare its 1991 landmark recording of his complete string quartets.
In the past few seasons it has also worked with Milton Babbitt—to
premiere his Clarinet Quintet—and with David Diamond—to
premiere his Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra.
As the Juilliard
Quartet enters its second half-century, it welcomes a new member—violinist
RONALD COPES—who joins JOEL SMIRNOFF, SAMUEL RHODES and JOEL
KROSNICK. Copes became the group’s second violinist in 1997,
when Joel Smirnoff replaced the retiring Robert Mann, a founding
member, as first violinist.
Smirnoff, a
native of New York City, studied at the University of Chicago and
The Juilliard School before joining the Boston Symphony. In 1983
he won second prize in the International American Music Competition
and in 1985 made his recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill
Recital Hall. In 1986 he joined the Juilliard String Quartet as
second violininst. He has premiered numerous contemporary works,
several of which were composed for him.
Ronald Copes
joined the quartet in 1997 as second violinist after long tenures
with the Dunsmuir Piano Quartet and the Los Angeles Piano Quartet.
A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio and the Univeristy of
Michigan, Copes was on the faculty at the University of California
at Santa Barbara and at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival
for many years. He has performed as a regular guest at the Marlboro,
Bermuda, Cheltenham, Colorado, and Olympic music festivals, and
he has appeared in solo recitals across Europe and the United States.
A native of
New York City, Samuel Rhodes studied composition with Roger Sessions
and Earl Kim at Queens College and Princeton University. His thirty-year
tenure with the Juilliard String Quartet has included participation
in the Tanglewood Festival, where he is on the faculty, and in the
Marlborough Chamber Music Festival. In addition, he has given solo
recitals at the Library of Congress and at Weill Recital Hall, and
he frequently appears as a featured performer with orchestras and
chamber groups across the globe. He has given premieres of works
for unaccompanied viola by Milton Babbitt and Arthur Weisberg.
Connecticut
native Joel Krosnick counts among his principal teachers William
D’Amato, Luigi Silva, Jens Nygaard and Claus Adam, whom he
succeeded in the Juilliard String Quartet in 1974. A commited educator
on the faculties of Tanglewood and Juilliard, he has always been
an active solo performer, appearing on stages throughout the United
States and Europe. He gives recitals regularly with Gilbert Kalish
in New York.
The quartet
began recording with Sony Classical (formerly Columbia Records and
CBS Masterworks) in 1949, and the group’s discography currently
numbers over 100 items, including repertoire well-travelled and
unfamiliar. Among the highlights: a Grammy Award™-winning
cycle of Beethoven Quartets, three notable cycles of Bartók
quartets, the most recent in 1981; a Grammy Award™-winning
album of Debussy/Ravel/Dutilleux quartets; and an unusual pairing
of quartets by Sibelius and Verdi.
In celebration
of the group’s fiftieth anniversary in 1996, Sony Classical
released a seven-disc set featuring both new releases and some of
their classic recordings. Volume five, a two-disc set, spotlights
the quartet in historic collaborations with some of this century’s
great artists, from Aaron Copland to Yo-Yo Ma.
Most recently
the Juilliard String Quartet joined Yefim Bronfman in the performance
of Shostakovich's Piano Quintet, Op.57. Other recent releases include
a recording of Beethoven’s quartets nos.13 and 16, a recording
of Franck and Smetana quartets and a disc of Mendelssohn quartets,
the group’s first recording with new member Ronald Copes.
Scheduled for release in October 2000 is a recording of Shostakovich's
string quartets nos.3 and 15.
The Juilliard
Quartet is one of the most recognized chamber music groups of its
time. Its honors include four Grammy Awards™, membership in
the National Academy Recording Arts and Sciences’ Hall of
Fame, multiple awards from the French publications Repertoire and
Diapason, a lifetime achievement award from the German Record Critics,
and Musician of the Year (1996) from Musical America, to name only
a few. Its recording of the Debussy, Ravel and Dutilleux quartets
was selected by The Times of London as one of the 100 best classical
CDs ever made.
Always a favorite
on concert stages around the globe, the Juilliard Quartet appears
regularly in the major performing venues in Europe, Asia, and North
and South America. The 1999/2000 season is highlighted by a series
of concerts in New York City with guest artist Maurizio Pollini
(piano), under the auspices of Carnegie Hall. Among its many engagements
in North America, the Juilliard Quartet will be heard in Baltimore,
Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto, Houston and Washington D.C., performing
works by Bartok, Beethoven, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Shostakovich and
others. The Quartet also tours Europe twice with concerts in London,
Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Cologne, Milan and the Netherlands.
Listen to a
fascinating Library of Congress roundtable discussion of the Juilliard
String Quartet, as well as samples of their music, on
their own website.
Read Salon’s
editorial on the 50th
anniversary of the Juilliard String Quartet. Don’t miss
“Top Ten Ways to Celebrate the Juilliard Quartet's 50th Anniversary.”
|
