Juilliard String Quartet

With unparalleled artistry and enduring vigor, the Juilliard String Quartet continues to inspire audiences around the world. 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.

In 2023, the Juilliard String Quartet welcomes violist Molly Carr, and also performs world premieres, including two works written for the group by celebrated German composer, Jörg Widmann, composed to be performed alongside late quartets by Beethoven which they premiered at the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music. The JSQ also premieres rising American composer Tyson Davis’ String Quartet No. 2 — commissioned by the Kennedy Center, the DaCamera Society of Houston, Chamber Music Cincinnati, and the Howland Chamber Music Circle. Other season highlights include tours with violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, performing Chausson Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, culminating in a concert at Carnegie Hall; two European tours including stops in Italy, Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic; and concerts in Philadelphia, Detroit, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, and Napa Valley.

Adding to its celebrated discography, the JSQ recorded an album of works by Beethoven, Bartók, and Dvořák which was released by Sony Classical in April 2021 to critical acclaim. Additionally, Sony Masterworks released JSQ’s The Early Juilliard Recordings in June 2021. In the fall of 2018, the JSQ released an album on Sony featuring the world premiere recording of Mario Davidovsky’s Fragments (2016), together with Beethoven’s Quartet Op. 95 and Bartók’s Quartet No. 1. Additionally, Sony Classical’s 2014 reissue of the Quartet’s landmark recordings of the first four Elliott Carter String Quartets along with the 2013 recording of Carter’s fifth quartet traces a remarkable period in the evolution of both the composer and the ensemble. 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.

Devoted master teachers, the members of the Juilliard String Quartet offer classes and open rehearsals when on tour. The JSQ is String Quartet in Residence at the Juilliard School and its members — Areta Zhulla, Ronald Copes, Molly Carr, and Astrid Schween — are all sought-after teachers on the string and chamber music faculties. Each May, they host the five-day internationally recognized Juilliard String Quartet Seminar. During the summer, the JSQ works closely on string quartet repertoire with students at the Tanglewood Music Center.

Tyson Davis (b.2000)

Tyson Gholston Davis (b. 2000) is an American composer in his senior year at The Juilliard School where he is a recipient of the Jerome L. Greene Fellowship studying with Robert Beaser. Davis began composing at the age of eight years old and entered the University North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) as a high school freshman, studying with Lawrence Dillon. In the summer of 2019, Davis worked with the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA) and Antonio Pappano to premiere his work, Delicate Tension, a piece that was commissioned by the American Embassy in Berlin for the 30th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The work was performed in Berlin, Edinburgh, and Hamburg.

Since then, Davis has been a leading desired composer to be performed and commissioned by leading ensembles. He has been the recipient of more than 22 commissions by organizations such as The Juilliard String Quartet, the Albany Symphony, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Eighth Blackbird, WQXR, New York New Music Ensemble, and the Metropolis Ensemble.

His recently finished work, Amorphous Figures (String Quartet No. 2) was commissioned by the Howland Chamber Music Circle, Da Camera Society of Houston, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Chamber Music Cincinnati for the Juilliard String Quartet. Currently, Davis is backed up with commissions until mid-2024 with works for soprano saxophone and piano (for Robert Young), wind quintet (for Zéphyros Winds), solo piano (Jonathan Biss), and several others.

Tyson’s favorite classical composers include Beethoven, Elliott Carter, Henri Dutilleux, Unsuk Chin, George Benjamin, and Jacob Druckman. He also loves the pop music of Marvin Gaye, John Denver, Simon and Garfunkel, and many others. He lives in Washington Heights, NYC, and enjoys frequent walks in Fort Tryon Park.