Juilliard String Quartet

Juilliard String Quartet, American string quartet, formed in 1946 at the instigation of the composer William Schuman, then president of the Juilliard School of Music. The original members were Robert Mann (1st violin), Robert Koff (2nd violin), Raphael Hillyer (viola), and Arthur Winograd (cello). Over the years there have been various changes of personnel: of the founding members, Mann was the last to leave, retiring in 1977. The ensemble now comprises Joel Smirnoff (1st violin), Ronald Copes (2nd violin), Samuel Rhodes (viola), and Joel Krosnick (cello). While it has been especially associated with 20th-century music, the quartet is equally at home with Classical and Romantic repertoire, being particularly renowned for its performances of Beethoven.

As quartet in residence at the Library of Congress since 1962, the Juilliard has premiered many works, including Quartet No.4 by Milton Babbitt, Ainsi la nuit by Henri Dutilleux, and George Perle's Quartet No.8. Other memorable performances have included the complete Bartók and Beethoven quartets. It is also quartet in residence at the Juilliard School, where all its members teach, and in that role it has assisted the development of younger, and now internationally known, ensembles such as the Emerson, Tokyo, La Salle, and American Quartets.

The Juilliard has been described as “America's quartet”, but is also renowned as the first American quartet to achieve international recognition. It was the first American string quartet to visit the USSR (in 1961), and it tours regularly in North and South America, Europe, and Asia.

The quartet's many recordings demonstrate its commitment to both new music (for example, its 1991 recording of the string quartets by Elliott Carter) and the mainstream. It has won four Grammy Awards for Best Chamber Music Performance, for Bartók's six quartets (1965), quartets by Debussy and Ravel (1971), Quartets for Strings by Schoenberg (1977), and Beethoven's late quartets (1984). Other awards and honours include membership of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame (1986), the German Record Critics’ Award for Lifetime Achievement (1993), and Musical America’s Musicians of the Year award (1996).