Conductor, violinist and eminent pedagogue Joel Smirnoff joined the Juilliard String Quartet in 1986 and has performed on four continents with the group since that time. Mr. Smirnoff replaced Robert Mann as first violinist of the quartet in 1997. In addition to his Grammy-nominated SONY disks with the Juilliard Quartet, Mr. Smirnoff also has an extensive catalog of solo recordings, including the world premiere recordings of numerous 20th century works by diverse composers such as Louis Gruenberg and Joan Tower.