Juilliard String Quartet

 

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 Iraqi-American composer Michelle Barzel Ross, inspired by Beethoven’s String Quartet, Opus 132; a quartet by JSQ member Leonard Fu; a quartet by Tyson Davis premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.; and a quartet called “Fragments” written by Mario Davidovsky. The ensemble is currently in collaboration with György Kurtág for a forthcoming string quartet commission.

 

Recent highlights include repeat tours with violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianists Emanuel Ax and Jean Yves Thibaudet, with appearances in venues including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles’ Disney Hall and San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall; a live-performance release on Deutsche Grammophon’s Stage+; and a multiyear commissioning project in collaboration with the Juilliard School.

 

Upcoming activities include tours across Europe, Asia, and the US with concerts in venues such as London’s Wigmore Hall and the BBC Radio, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Prague’s Rudolfinum, Cologne and Paris’ Philharmonies, Tokyo’s Yamaha Hall, Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, and New York’s Lincoln Center.

 

A facet of the JSQ’s decades-old legacy is a prolific and celebrated discography, with recordings that continue to be re-released by Sony Masterworks. 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 2026-2027 season stands to be a landmark year: it will see the launch of the Quartet’s own record label “JSQ Records” with the release of the first album in a multi-year recording project titled “Letters to Ludwig.”

 

The JSQ is String Quartet in Residence at the Juilliard School in New York City and its members 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 an internationally recognized Juilliard String Quartet Seminar each May at the Juilliard School.