The Juilliard String Quartet presents its annual seminar featuring eight young string quartets from around the world

Seminar culminates with two free Lincoln Center concerts on Friday, May 23 at 3:30 PM and 7:30 PM in Juilliard's Paul Hall

The Juilliard String Quartet presents its annual seminar from May 19-23, 2008, open to young string quartets from around the world. This year, eight young quartets from across the U.S., as well as one from the U.K., and one from as far away as New Zealand, receive intensive coaching with members of the Juilliard String Quartet during the week and have the opportunity to interact with the other participating quartets. Each quartet is coached in several different works from the string quartet genre. This year, Juilliard welcomes the Arneis, Biava (Juilliard’s graduate resident string quartet), Bryant Park, Maia, Matisse, Niles, Solstice, and Tasman string quartets. The Biava, Bryant Park, and Maia string quartets are returning for their second time at the seminar.

The seminar culminates in two Lincoln Center performances featuring each ensemble in a work that they have developed during the week. The two concerts take place on Friday, May 23 at 3:30 PM and 7:30 PM in Juilliard’s Paul Hall (enter at 144 West 66th Street), and the repertoire (chosen toward the end of the coaching sessions) will include string quartets by Bartók, Debussy, Haydn, Janá?ek, Mendelssohn, Mozart, and Prokofiev. The concerts are FREE; no tickets are required.

Formed in January 2007 at Boston University under the tutelage of the Muir String Quartet, the Arneis Quartet’s namesake is the Arneis grape, which is an Italian varietal. The Quartet writes: “Arneis (literally, little rascal, in Piedmontese) is so called because it is regarded as a somewhat difficult variety to grow, but with care and patience, it can produce an exquisite wine, just as a fastidious rehearsal of chamber music can yield great performances.” Its members include violinists Tera Gorsett and Rose Drucker; violist Daniel Doña; and cellist Mark Bridges. Highlights of their past year include collaborations with violist Michelle LaCourse (as part of the Boston University Faculty Recital Series) and soprano Tony Arnold. Members of the Arneis hold degrees from Boston University, University of Arizona, University of Oklahoma, and University of Chicago. They recently attended the Tanglewood Music Center, Festival-Ensemble Stuttgart, Youth Orchestra of the Americas, Bowdoin Music Festival, and ENCORE School for Strings. This summer the Arneis will be participating in the Banff Institute Chamber Music Residency.

The Biava Quartet holds the Lisa Arnhold Quartet Residency at Juilliard, serving as the graduate resident string quartet and teaching assistants to the Juilliard String Quartet. Named after Maestro Luis Biava, who has been a mentor and inspiration to the Quartet since its inception, its members include violinists Austin Hartman and Hyunsu Ko, violist Mary Persin, and cellist Jason Calloway. The Biava Quartet has performed in major concert halls throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, including Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, London’s Wigmore Hall, and the Baroque Art Hall in Seoul. Other highlights from recent seasons include appearances at the Mostly Mozart and Aspen Music Festivals, Chautauqua Institution, and Pacific Music Festival in Japan. Dedicated to the performance of the classical repertoire, the Biava Quartet also maintains a strong commitment to the commissioning and performance of contemporary works. They have championed the music of American composers Mason Bates, William Bolcom, John Harbison, and Ezra Laderman. Founded in 1998 at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the members of the Biava Quartet hold advanced degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music, University of Southern California, Yale University, and Juilliard.

The Bryant Park Quart is a returning quartet to the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar. Based in New York City, the Quartet is dedicated to presenting the spectrum of the string quartet repertoire to a wide audience. Its members include Stephen Miahky and Benjamin Russell, violins; Adam Meyer, viola; and Tomoko Fujita, cello. They have performed in traditional venues such as Juilliard’s Paul Hall at Lincoln Center, the Recital Hall at the Staller Center for the Arts, and the Des Moines Art Center’s Levitt Auditorium; in art galleries such as the Nassau County Museum of Art, and the Seaport District Cultural Association’s Space Gallery; in private house concerts; and in less conventional locations such as coffeehouses and community centers. In addition to these recitals, the Bryant Park Quartet has appeared as soloists with the Cornell Chamber Orchestra. Their strong convictions about the importance of community and school outreach has led them to share their music with thousands of school children in rural Kentucky and Ohio under the auspices of New Performing Arts, Inc., and the Darke County Center for the Arts, and in the city of Des Moines, Iowa. The Quartet also has developed residencies aimed at introducing chamber music concepts to the string students in the Port Jefferson and Hewlett-Woodmere public school districts on Long Island, New York. They work regularly with the Emerson String Quartet, Colin Carr and Kathy Murdock at Stony Brook University, and have also participated in the Chamber Music Workshop at the Perlman Music Program and the Mannes Beethoven Institute. They have been coached by members of the Cavani, Cleveland, Brentano, Borromeo, and Juilliard String Quartets, and Itzhak Perlman.

The Maia Quartet, formed in 1990, is a returning quartet to the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar. The Quartet has established itself internationally as an ensemble of innovation and versatility. They have appeared in major concert halls throughout the U.S., and abroad, including Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall and the 92nd Street Y, Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center, Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall, and the Aspen Music Festival’s Harris Hall. Collaborations with leading chamber musicians have included performances with Joel Krosnick, Andre-Michel Schub, and Cynthia Phelps. The Maia Quartet’s commitment to the work of living composers has led to premieres of compositions by Pierre Jalbert, Margaret Brouwer, Dan Coleman, Vivian Fung, and Ronn Yedidia. This summer, the Quartet will be in residence at the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp and the International Great Wall Academy in Beijing, China. The Quartet is dedicated to educational outreach and has presented events under the auspices of the Starling Foundation, Young Audiences, Inc., and the Midori Foundation. Currently, the Quartet runs a Pre-College Chamber Music Program and performs regularly for families and young children in the Iowa City area. The Quartet is featured on the critically-acclaimed Composers in the Loft CD, recently released by Cedille Records. Currently the faculty quartet-in-residence at the University of Iowa, in Iowa City, the Quartet previously served as faculty at the Peabody Conservatory of Music. The Quartet was formed at the Cleveland Institute of Music and subsequently received a fellowship to attend Peabody and work with Earl Carlyss. Its members are Tricia Park and Zoran Jakovcic, violins; Elizabeth Oakes, viola; and Hannah Holman, cello. They were recipients of the Lisa Arnhold String Quartet Residency at Juilliard from 1994-96, where they worked with the Juilliard String Quartet and served as their teaching assistants.

The Matisse Quartet formed in August 2007 at the Cleveland Institute of Music where they have been studying with Peter Salaff and the Cavani Quartet. They participate in Cleveland Institute’s Intensive Quartet Seminar, and they have played in master classes for Earl Carlyss, the Takács Quartet, and Andrew Jennings. Most recently, the Matisse Quartet won First Prize in the senior division of the Ohio String Teachers’ Association Chamber Music Competition. This summer, they are participating in the Mannes Beethoven Institute studying with the Brentano Quartet in New York City. Chosen for the chamber music residency at the Banff Centre in Canada in June, they will be collaborating with Denis Brott performing the Schubert Cello Quintet. Members of the Matisse Quartet include violinists Zsolt Eder and Sophia Bellingrath; violist Cynthia Black; and cellist Kevin Downs. Mr. Eder was born in Budapest and studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Ms. Bellingrath is a native of Bamberg, Germany and studied in the Preparatory Department of the Detmold Conservatory and is a sophomore violin student at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Ms. Black is from Dallas, Texas and also is a sophomore at Cleveland. Mr. Downs is currently a recipient of the Presidential Merit Scholarship at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

The Niles Quartet is one of two graduate string quartets in residence at the University of Kentucky and is additionally supported by the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra. In conjunction with these parent organizations, the Quartet has performed numerous outreach concerts in the Lexington community and throughout Kentucky. In fall of 2007, the Quartet performed with the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra and Arlo Guthrie at Carnegie Hall. They have worked with cellist Lynn Harrell and the former member of the Audubon String Quartet, David Ehrlich. As the recent winners of the prestigious Macauley Chamber Music Competition in Louisville, the Quartet played on the WUOL radio station and in Louisville’s Comstock Recital Hall this spring. The Niles Quartet was recently heard in the Chamber Music Society of central Kentucky’s final series concert and performed as soloists with the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Alfred Salvia. Members of the Quartet are Jessica Tzou and Ella Chang, violins; Lauren Nelson, viola; and Andrea Kleesattel, cello. All four members are currently working on master’s degrees from the University of Kentucky’s School of Music and play as section members in the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra.

Founded at Cambridge University in 2003 and now based in London, the Solstice Quartet has enjoyed widespread success with its varied schedule of recitals, collaborations, and study. Members of the Quartet include violinists Jamie Campbell and Nicholas Shardlow; violist Meghan Cassidy; and cellist Gregor Riddell. They have recently been awarded a junior fellowship for the 2008-09 academic year at the Instituto Internacional de Música de Cámara de Madrid, where they will study intensively every month with Prof. Günter Pichler of the Alban Berg Quartet, and in February 2008, they were selected for the Tillett Trust Young Artists’ Platform and will make their Wigmore Hall debut in February 2009 as part of that award. The Quartet has performed throughout the U.K. and internationally, appearing at major music festivals such as Dartington, Canterbury ‘Sounds New’ Festival and Aberystwyth. They have performed on BBC Radio 3. The Solstice Quartet has had an association with many eminent musicians, including members of the Alban Berg, Belcea, Endellion, Fitzwilliam, and Wihan quartets, as well as tuition from Hugh Maguire, James Boyd, Simon Rowland Jones, and the late Howard Davis. The Quartet has given performances of music by prominent contemporary composers, including Howard Skempton, Ross Edwards, Ivan Moody, John Tavener, and Giles Swayne. Additionally, two of its members, Nicholas Shardlow and Gregor Riddell, are composers. The Quartet has coached players at the Benslow Music Centre, and at Wells Cathedral School.

The Tasman String Quartet was formed in 2006 by Anna van der Zee, James Andrewes, Christiaan van der Zee, and Miranda Wilson, four young New Zealanders, who had recently returned to their home country following university studies in Germany, England, and the United States. Their reputation for fresh, lively interpretations of the classics spread quickly throughout New Zealand, where they were invited to perform in many cities as touring artists for Chamber Music New Zealand. In 2007, they became the graduate quartet-in-residence at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where they work under the mentorship of the Takács Quartet. Since their arrival in the United States, they have built up a busy schedule of concerts in the Rocky Mountains area. In March 2008, they were finalists and prizewinners in the Plowman Chamber Music Competition in Columbia, Missouri. The Tasman String Quartet recently won a fellowship to the Center for Advanced Quartet Studies at the Aspen Music Festival, which will enable them to study intensively between June and August 2008 under the guidance of the American, Cavani, Emerson, Takács, and Ying Quartets, and members of the Juilliard and Cleveland Quartets.