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The highly respected American cellist Joel Krosnick has died at the age of 84. He was the cellist of the Juilliard Quartet from 1974-2016, and a renowned teacher at New York’s Juilliard School.
Krosnick was born on 3 April 1941 in New Haven, Connecticut, and studied at Columbia University, where he became deeply involved with new music, eventually becoming a founding member of The Group for Contemporary Music. His passion for contemporary music led to him giving premieres of works by composers including Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter, Roger Sessions, Stefan Wolpe and Charles Wuorinen, among others. He was a prolific recording artist with the Juilliard Quartet, recording the complete quartets of Beethoven, Bartók, Brahms, Hindemith, Janáček and Schoenberg, and he recorded the complete Beethoven and Brahms sonatas with pianist Gilbert Kalish, with whom he had a 30-year partnership. In 2011, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and he held honorary doctoral degrees from Michigan State University, Jacksonville University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
After his retirement from the Juilliard Quartet Krosnick continued to serve as chair of the cello department at Juilliard and a member of the chamber music faculty. He also served on the faculty of the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival and at The Perlman Music Program’s Chamber Music Workshop. In 2015 he received the Juilliard School President’s Medal for Service to the Arts. He was also involved with the Piatigorsky Seminar at the University of Southern California, and the Aspen, Marlboro, Ravinia and Tanglewood festivals.
The Juilliard School wrote: ‘Throughout his extraordinary career, 50 years of which were dedicated to Juilliard, Joel inspired and supported countless students. Those who had the privilege of working with him quickly recognised his fierce dedication to teaching, his unique ability to guide students toward their highest potential, and the depth of his humanity.’
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