The Juilliard String Quartet Presents Its Annual Seminar Featuring Five Young String Quartets; Seminar Culminates With a Free Lincoln Center Concert on Friday, May 22 at 3:30 PM in Juilliard's Paul Hall

The Juilliard String Quartet presents its annual seminar from May 18-22, 2009, open to young string quartets from around the world. This year, Juilliard welcomes five young quartets, who will 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, the Biava (concluding its tenure as Juilliard's graduate resident string quartet) and Bryant Park string quartets are returning for the seminar, and the Air Force, Hausmann, and Pastoral string quartets join them for the week.

The seminar culminates in a free Lincoln Center performance featuring each ensemble in a work that they have developed during the week. A concert takes place on Friday, May 22 at 3:30 PM in Juilliard's Paul Hall (155 West 65^th Street) and the repertoire (chosen toward the end of the coaching sessions) will include string quartets by Bartók, Beethoven, Ginastera, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Mozart, and others. No tickets are required for this FREE concert. For more information, call (212) 769-7406 or go to www.juilliard.edu.

Since 2001, the Air Force Quartet has presented concerts to a broad audience in the spirit of public and military service. Members of the Quartet have performed at the White House, U.S. Department of State, Supreme Court, U.S. Capitol, The Pentagon, foreign embassies, for leaders at the highest levels of government. A component of the United States Air Force Band, the Quartet is charged with supporting military and protocol functions. Additionally, the Quartet is firmly committed to community outreach, presenting numerous free public concerts in the National Capital Region, performing at schools, libraries, military hospitals and retirement homes. The Air Force Quartet has performed and given master classes at the Eastern Music Festival and the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. The Quartet was a participant of the 2004 Emerson Quartet International Chamber Music Workshop and has coached with James Dunham, Michael Tree and members of the Juilliard String Quartet. The members of the Air Force Quartet are violinists Greg Pinney and Luke Wedge, violist William Hurd, and cellist Frank McKinster.

Winner of the Naumburg Chamber Music Award and top prizes at the Premio Borciani and London International Competitions, the Biava Quartet has established an enthusiastic following in the United States and abroad, impressing audiences with its sensitive artistry and communicative powers. Formed in 1998 at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the quartet takes its name from Maestro Luis Biava, a mentor since its inception. The members of the Biava Quartet, violinists Austin Hartman and Hyunsu Ko, violist Mary Persin, and cellist Jason Calloway, have been Lisa Arnhold Fellows at Juilliard and just finished serving as the graduate resident quartet and teaching assistants to the Juilliard String Quartet. The Biava Quartet previously held the same position with the Tokyo Quartet at Yale University. The Quartet has performed in venues throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. In addition to its performance of the classical repertoire, the quartet also dedicates much of its efforts to the creation and performance of contemporary works. The ensemble has championed the music of American composers Mason Bates, William Bolcom, John Harbison, Ezra Laderman, and Stacy Garrop, whose Second String Quartet it has premiered and recorded. As ensemble in residence at the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society this season, the Biava Quartet was involved in an ambitious commissioning project that yielded four new works written expressly for the ensemble. The Biava Quartet is frequently invited to give master classes and lead community and educational programs at schools and conservatories around the country. The Quartet has served as ensemble in residence and faculty members at the Indiana University Summer String Academy, the Innsbrook Institute, San Diego Chamber Music Festival, the David Einfeldt Chamber Music Institute, the Heifetz International Music Institute, and the Luzerne Music Center.

The Bryant Park Quartet 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. The members of the Bryant Park Quartet are violinists Anna Elashvili and Benjamin Russell, violist Adam Meyer, and cellist Tomoko Fujita. The Bryant Park Quartet has performed in traditional venues such as Juilliard's Paul Recital Hall, the Staller Center for the Arts Recital Hall, 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 Country Center for the Arts and in the city of Des Moines, Iowa. The BPQ 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. The BPQ works regularly with the Emerson String Quartet, cellist Colin Carr, and violist Kathy Murdock at Stony Brook University and has also participated in the Chamber Music Workshop at the Perlman Music Program, the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar, and the Mannes Beethoven Institute. Tbe Bryant Park Quartet has been coached by members of the Cavani, Cleveland, Brentano, Borromeo, and the Juilliard String Quartet, and Itzhak Perlman.

The Hausmann Quartet formed in the summer of 2004 at LyricaFest in New Jersey. The Quartet holds the Morrison Fellowship Award in residency with the Alexander String Quartet at the International Center for the Arts at San Francisco State University. In 2008, the Hausmann Quartet made its debut at both the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival and Music@Menlo. They were one of three quartets chosen to take part in the Emerson Quartet's acclaimed international workshop at Stony Brook. In 2007, they were quartet in residence at the Blossom Music Festival, as well as a quartet showcased at the Chamber Music America conference in New York. In 2006, they were named Norfolk Festival's Quartet Fellows in Residence. With a deep belief in community engagement, the Hausmann Quartet established a residency at the Wilson School in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, bringing creative musical programs to children with special needs. The Quartet has also worked with the International Music Foundation in presenting a children's concert series in the Chicago area. The members of the Hausmann Quartet are violinists Isaac Allen and Bram Goldstein, violist Angela Choong, and cellist Yuan Zhang.

The Pastoral Quartet formed at Juilliard. They have worked with renowned artists, including Robert Mann, Itzhak Perlman, Donald Weilerstein, Paul Katz, and Roger Tapping, among many others, and have participated in chamber music festivals, such as the Perlman Music Chamber Music Workshop, Verbier Festival, Kneisel Hall, and Banff. The members of the Pastoral Quartet are violinists Christel Lee and Hwi Eun Kim, violist Allan Nilles, and cellist Jia Kim.