Juilliard String Quartet to receive Lifetime Achievement Award from The Recording Academy
The Juilliard String Quartet is to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Recording Academy at a special ceremony in Los Angeles on February 12.
The Recording Academy president and chief executive officer Neil Portnow said the award sought to “recognize and celebrate” the quartet, which originally formed in 1946, adding: “These influential performers and brilliant innovators have been of great inspiration to our culture and industry. Their legendary work has left a lasting impression and will continue to influence generations to come.”
The quartet will be only the 21st classical artist to be honored by
The Recording Academy, which was established in 1957.
Noted for its performances of works by composers as diverse as Beethoven, Schubert, Bartók and Elliott Carter, the Juilliard String Quartet has long been regarded as the dean of American string quartets. It was founded in 1946 by violinist Robert Mann, with violinist Robert Koff, violist Raphael Hillyer and cellist Arthur Winograd, at the behest of William Schuman, then president of
New York City’s famed Juilliard School.
There have been only nine personnel changes during its lifetime, most recently with the appointment of Joseph Lin as first violin this month. The other current members are: Ronald Copes (second violin), Samuel Rhodes (viola), and Joel Krosnick (cello). The ensemble is also Quartet-in-Residence at The Juilliard School, New York.
The quartet has been closely associated with Sony Classical since 1949, its recordings of complete quartets by Beethoven, Schoenberg, Bartók, Debussy and Ravel have all received Grammy Awards. It previously received a Lifetime Achievement Award, from the Deutsche Schallplattenkritik Prize, in 1993.
Photo credit: Steve J. Sherman
