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Robert Koff, 86, Founding Member Of Juilliard String Quartet, Dies Violinist Robert L. Koff, a founding member of the Juilliard String Quartet, died on February 22 in Lexington, Mass. He was 86 and had been ill for two years.
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| Robert Koff (standing) with the other original members of the Juilliard String Quartet (left to right) Robert Mann, Raphael Hillyer, and Alfred Winograd, c. 1952. (Photo by G. D. Hackett) |
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Koff was the original second violinist of the quartet, which also included first violinist Robert Mann, violist Raphael Hillyer, and cellist Arthur Winograd when it was formed in 1946, while composer William Schuman was the president of Juilliard. As one of the first quartets-in-residence at an American conservatory, the J.S.Q. became a renowned champion of contemporary music. Koff can be heard on many of the ensemble's classic recordings, including the first set of Bartok String Quartets. Koff left the quartet in 1958 to become director of performance activities at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass.Born in Los Angeles in 1919, Koff graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory in 1941. He entered the Juilliard Graduate School's violin program on October 2, 1941, where he studied with Hans Letz. He withdrew on November 25, 1942, to serve in the army. While a faculty member and quartet member at Juilliard from 1946-58, Koff also taught at Aspen and Tanglewood during the summers.He played in the Brandeis String Quartet from 1960-70, and during that decade was also director of the Brandeis Chamber Players and conductor of the school's chamber orchestra. Koff was chairman of the Brandeis music department from 1969-76 and retired from the university's faculty in 1983. He also taught at Tel Aviv University and Harvard.Koff's other activities included lecturing on music in a 40-part series for Boston's public television station WGBH, and hosting a six-part series for WGBH radio on the Haydn quartets. He is survived by his wife, Rosalind Mann Koff, and three sons.
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