Juilliard Names Ulysses Quartet New Graduate Resident String Quartet

May 20, 2019, 11:29 AM · The Juilliard School has named the Ulysses Quartet its newest graduate resident string quartet, beginning September 2019.

Ulysses Quartet. Photo by Matt Holler.

The Ulysses Quartet, with violinists Christina Bouey and Rhiannon Banerdt, violist Colin Brookes, and cellist Grace Ho, will be Lisa Arnhold Fellows, with a residency of one year that can be renewed once, for a maximum of two years. Upon successful completion of the residency, quartet members are awarded Artist Diplomas in String Quartet Studies at Juilliard.

The Ulysses replaces the Argus Quartet, which has been in residency at Juilliard since 2017. Other Juilliard graduate string quartets in residence have included the Aeolus, Afiara, Attacca, Avalon, Biava, Calder, Cassatt, Chiara, Corigliano, Essex, Lark, Maia, Magellan (now renamed the Whitman String Quartet), Miró, St. Lawrence, Shanghai, and Verona quartets.

Founded in 2015, the Ulysses Quartet won first prize in the 2018 Schoenfeld International String Competition and the grand prize and gold medal in the senior string division of the 2016 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Ulysses also finished first in The American Prize in Chamber Music Performance and won second prize at the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in 2017. The quartet received a career development grant in the 2016 Banff International String Quartet Competition and will return to compete in the 2019 semifinal round this August. The musicians perform on instruments and bows that have been loaned by the Canada Council of the Arts Instrument Bank and the Maestro Foundation.

As graduate quartet in residence at Juilliard, they will have lessons with members of the Juilliard String Quartet and assist in teaching duties.

BELOW: The Ulysses Quartet performs Leoš Janácek's String Quartet No. 2, "Intimate Letters," IV: Allegro - Andante - Adagio.