Pittsfield — Appearing at South Mountain Concert Hall on Sunday, October 1, the Juilliard String Quartet (JSQ) is one of the few ensembles you will hear at that venue whose earliest recordings are available in antique shops (on 78 rpm discs).
The key to the ensemble’s longevity (since 1946) is its status as quartet-in-residence at the Juilliard School, where emerging young musicians are called upon to fill vacancies whenever a member of the quartet retires. By operating in this way, the JSQ has attained a kind of immortality that few other quartets have achieved. So, when the Boston Globe called the JSQ “the most important American quartet in history,” it was simply stating a long-known fact.
The group’s newest member, Molly Carr, earned her Master of Arts degree in viola performance from the Juilliard School in 2011 and has been with the JSQ since 2022. Molly has won numerous international prizes, including the Primrose International Viola Competition and awards from Chamber Music America, ProMusicis Foundation, and the Davidson Institute. One of Carr’s most significant achievements is the award-winning project Music Heals Us, a nonprofit that Carr founded and directs for the purpose of making chamber music performances accessible to marginalized populations. In addition to serving on the Juilliard Pre-College faculty, she is also on the faculties of Bard College Conservatory of Music and Musical Arts Madrid.
Areta Zhulla became first violinist of the JSQ in 2018 after earning her master’s degree in violin performance in 2010 from the Juilliard School, where she studied with Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho. She was a member of Chamber Music Society Two of Lincoln Center, where she performed and toured with top classical music artists. The JSQ “somehow,” says Ms. Zhulla, “always has the same persona, you know, the same sound, the same sort of musical intensity, the same grit as it always did. And, of course, each member still continues to teach at the Juilliard School, which for me is quite incredible, having been a student there.”
Cellist Astrid Schween joined the JSQ in 2016, having made her concerto debut at age 16 with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic before studying privately in London with Jacqueline du Pré. Schween received her master’s from Juilliard in 2018. She is a member of the cello faculties at Juilliard and the Perlman Music Program.
Violinist Ronald Copes has been a member of the Juilliard faculty and JSQ since 1997 and a faculty member at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival since 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan. He has recorded for many labels, including CRI, Klavier, Orion, New World, Music Masters, Musical Heritage Society, Pickwick, and Modern Masters Collective.
The group’s program for Sunday is for serious listeners:
- Beethoven — String Quartet No 16 in F Major, Op. 135
- Tyson Davis — String Quartet No. 2 in F Major “Amorphous Figures”
- Schubert — String Quartet No. 15 in G Major, D. 887
String Quartet No. 16 was the last major work Beethoven completed, and, like his other late quartets, it confused a lot of people, including experienced chamber musicians. It still poses challenges to listeners, but for the JSQ, it has long been business as usual, just what audiences have come to expect. It is noteworthy that, back in 1949, the JSQ was the first to record Béla Bartók’s complete string quartets, and in 1953 they were the first to record Arnold Schoenberg’s complete quartets. New and challenging material has always been part of the JSQ brand.
And watch them prove it with Tyson Davis’s String Quartet No. 2 in F Major “Amorphous Figures.” Davis is a Juilliard student and a recipient of the Jerome L. Greene Fellowship. He he has received commissions from the JSQ, Albany Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and many other groups.
* * *
Hear the eternally venerable Juilliard String Quartet on Sunday, October 1, 3 p.m., at South Mountain Concert Hall in Pittsfield. More information is available here or by calling (413) 442-2106.
