By Maria Grant

Chesapeake Music is thrilled to welcome the illustrious Juilliard String Quartet during the second week of its June Chamber Music Festival.

Founded at The Juilliard School by then-president William Schuman and violin faculty member Robert Mann in 1946, the Juilliard String Quartet has received numerous awards, including four Grammys and membership in the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

From its beginnings, the Quartet has inspired audiences around the world. The ensemble performs riveting classic performances and also embraces the mission of championing new works. The result: each performance is a unique experience, showcasing the interpretation, commitment, and artistry of its four members. 

Each year the Juilliard String Quartet continues its decades-old tradition of commissioning and performing world premieres. Recent commissioned premieres have included two works by celebrated German composer Jörg Widmann, inspired by Beethoven string quartets.

This past season, the Quartet went on a repeat tour with violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianists Emanuel Ax and Jean-Yves Thibaudet. It also collaborated with soprano Tony Arnold and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Other season activities included a world premiere of a new work entitled “Birds on the Moon” dedicated to the Quartet’s late former violist Roger Tapping, written by Iraqi- American composer Michelle Barzel Ross. The Quartet has also participated in tours across Europe and the U.S with concerts in London, Berlin, Salzburg, the Ravinia Festival, and New York’s Alice Tully Hall.

Decisive and uncompromising… Juilliard’s confidently thoughtful approach, rhythmic acuity and ensemble precision were on full display.

The Washington Post

A facet of the Quartet’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.” The Quartet’s recordings of the Bartók and Schoenberg Quartets, as well as those of Debussy, Ravel, and Beethoven, have won Grammy Awards. In 2011, the Quartet became the first classical music ensemble to receive a lifetime achievement award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

At the upcoming Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival, the Quartet will play Mendelssohn’s String Quintet No. 1 in A Major and Smetana’s String Quartet No. 1 in E Minor (“From My Life”) on June 12; Widmann’s String Quartet No. 8 (“Study on Beethoven III”) and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Op. 130 and 133 on June 13; and Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (“Transfigured Night”) on June 14. For some selections, the Quartet will be joined by Chesapeake Music’s co-Artistic Directors—Catherine Cho and Marcy Rosen—and Daniel Phillips.

The Quartet is in residence at The Juilliard School in New York City. Its current members are Areta Zhulla (violin), Ronald Copes (violin), Molly Carr (viola), and Astrid Schween (cello), all of whom are 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.

The members of the Quartet also have a history of supporting marginalized communities. One example is violist Molly Carr, who has been praised for her “intoxicating and ravishing performances.” Carr is Founder and Artistic Director of Project: Music Heals Us, an organization which brings free chamber music and interactive programming to those with limited access to the arts. She has stepped behind prison walls to witness “hardened criminals soften and weep at the sound of Beethoven’s string quartets.” Carr has also visited refugee camps to offer creative spaces for traumatized children to dance, sing, smile, and freely express themselves for the first time in years—an initiative for which she and her Duo partner Anna Petrova have been honored at the United Nations.

Chesapeake Music’s co-Artistic Director Catherine Cho shares, “The Juilliard Quartet is a beloved ensemble worldwide, and we are very grateful to have them share their music-making with us…they are all very honest musicians with a powerful sense of integrity.”

Tickets for the Festival concerts at The Ebenezer Theater in Easton are $70. Chesapeake Music also offers a limited number of free tickets for students, music educators, and Talbot County First Responders, as well as a “buy-one-get-one” option for first-time patrons of Chesapeake Music. Visit ChesapeakeMusic.org for tickets and more information.