Juilliard String Quartet Honored with Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award

The Juilliard String Quartet, one of the world's great cultural treasures, was honored by The Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees with its Lifetime Achievement Award, which acknowledges lifelong artistic contributions to the recording medium. The Juilliard String Quartet is the first classical ensemble to receive this award, and only the 21st classical artist to be so honored by The Recording Academy.

In a special ceremony held during GRAMMY® Week on Saturday, February 12, 2011, the Juilliard String Quartet and fellow honorees Julie Andrews, Roy Haynes, The Kingston Trio, Dolly Parton, The Ramones, and George Beverly Shea received the awards. Formal acknowledgment of the honors was made during the 53rd Annual GRAMMY® Awards telecast, held at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011, and broadcast live at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.

"It is a great honor to recognize and celebrate such a distinguished and dynamic group of honorees who have been the creators of such timeless art," said The Recording Academy® President/CEO Neil Portnow. "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."

About the Juilliard String Quartet
Long regarded as the dean of American string quartets, the Juilliard String Quartet is internationally renowned and admired for performances characterized by clarity of structure, beauty of sound, purity of line and an extraordinary unanimity of purpose. Celebrated for its performances of works by composers as diverse as Beethoven, Schubert, Bartók and Elliott Carter, it has long been recognized as the quintessential American string quartet.

The group 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 over 65 years. Its current membership includes Joseph Lin, first violin; Ronald Copes, second violin; Samuel Rhodes, viola; and Joel Krosnick, cello. As Quartet-in-Residence at The Juilliard School, the Juilliard String Quartet is widely admired for its seminal influence on aspiring string players around the world, and continues to play an important role in the formation of new ensembles.

In its history, the Juilliard String Quartet has performed a comprehensive repertoire of some 500 works, ranging from the great classical composers to masters of the current century. It was the first ensemble to play all six Bartók quartets in the United States, and their performances rescued the quartets of Arnold Schoenberg from obscurity. An ardent champion of contemporary American music, the Quartet has premiered more than 60 compositions, including works by some of America's finest jazz musicians.

With more than 100 releases, the ensemble is one of the most widely recorded string quartets of our time. The Quartet has been associated with Sony Classical, in its various incarnations, since 1949. Its recordings of the complete Beethoven quartets, the complete Schoenberg quartets, the complete Bartók quartets and the Debussy and Ravel quartets have all received GRAMMY® Awards. Its first recording of the complete Bartók quartets (1950) was inducted into the Hall of Fame of The Recording Academy® in 1986. The Juilliard String Quartet was awarded the Deutsche Schallplattenkritik Prize in 1993 for Lifetime Achievement in the recording industry. In 2010, classic JSQ recordings were digitally released on iTunes.

About The Recording Academy®
Established in 1957, The Recording Academy® is an organization of musicians, producers, engineers and recording professionals dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY® Awards - the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music - The Recording Academy® is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, join the organization's social networks as a Twitter follower at www.twitter.com/thegrammys, a Facebook fan at www.facebook.com/thegrammys, and a YouTube channel subscriber at www.youtube.com/thegrammys.

To post a comment, you must register and login.