Juilliard String Quartet Welcomes New First Violinist Joseph Lin
Juilliard President Joseph W. Polisi announced recently that 32-year-old violinist Joseph Lin, an alumnus of Harvard and The Juilliard School Pre-College, will join the Juilliard String Quartet as first violinist beginning in 2011. He also becomes a member of the Juilliard violin faculty beginning with the fall 2011 semester. Mr. Lin currently is on leave from his position as a professor at Cornell, spending time in Asia to study Chinese music. He returns to the US to complete the spring semester at Cornell before joining the other members of the Juilliard Quartet — violinist Ronald Copes (Quartet member since 1997), violist Samuel Rhodes (1969), and cellist Joel Krosnick (1974) — as a full-time member. Mr. Lin follows violinist Nick Eanet who has resigned from the Quartet because of health issues.
In announcing Mr. Lin’s appointment, President Polisi stated, “The Juilliard community is delighted to continue the great tradition of the Juilliard String Quartet through the appointment of Joseph Lin. Joe brings extraordinary artistry, intellect, and a vision to his new post. We all welcome him as a member of the ensemble and of our faculty.”
The Juilliard String Quartet was founded 64 years ago as the School’s resident quartet by then-Juilliard President William Schuman. Since then, the JSQ has encompassed twelve different members, with changes happening singly during that time. (A complete chronological roster appears at the end of this release.) The Quartet’s international career has encompassed performances throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and North and South America.
The continuing members of the Quartet unanimously commented on the search and subsequent choice of Mr. Lin to become the ensemble’s lead violin, recounting that, “During the spring, summer, and early fall of 2010, we conducted a careful search for a new colleague who could help us to continue the high artistry which the Quartet has represented for more than 60 years, and to help lead the Quartet into the future. During that time we played with a number of brilliant violinists and musicians. Out of that process, Joseph Lin, who has participated for the past several years at the Marlboro Festival, emerged as the natural choice as our next colleague.”
Mr. Lin is an active solo and chamber musician who has performed in major halls throughout the world. He is a Concert Artists Guild winner who also was a founding member of the prize-winning Formosa Quartet. His new colleagues continued comment on his versatility and accomplishments by saying, “Mr. Lin is a virtuoso violinist of the highest order, as well as a superb chamber musician. Further, he is a most serious artist with wide-ranging interests that include Chinese music and culture. We firmly believe that his deep thoughtfulness about music will add a remarkable voice, that will embrace and complement the ongoing dialogue that always has been a strong characteristic of the Juilliard Quartet.”
On being selected as the first violinist of this historied quartet, Mr. Lin remarked, “I am delighted to have the opportunity to join the Juilliard String Quartet, an ensemble whose artistry and leadership has touched the lives of audiences and musicians around the world. My relationship with my new colleagues has already been marked with generosity, both musically and personally. As we continue a dialogue that has welcomed many voices over the past six decades, I look forward, with my colleagues, to building on the ensemble’s venerable history, weaving our individual experiences together to carry the Juilliard String Quartet into a new and fruitful era.” #
