The Julliard School is one of the most prestigious institutions in the field of music education. According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Education, Juilliard enrolls just over 600 undergraduate students and more than 400 graduate students.
The school recently announced that it has hired six new faculty members. Five of the new faculty members are women.
“With the addition of these distinguished artists, we add to the depth and breadth of instruction we offer our students,” said David Ludwig, dean and director of the Music Division. “These new faculty members share a passion for mentoring the next generation of musicians to achieve their fullest potential as young artists.”
Midori studied at Juilliard’s Pre-College division in the 1980s before dropping out to perform around the world as a soloist and recitalist. She gave her first public performance at the age of 6. Midori holds the Dorothy Richard Starling Chair in Violin Studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and is artistic director of Ravinia Steans Music Institute’s Piano & Strings. Earlier in her academic career she was a professor at the at University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music. Midori holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and gender studies and a master’s degree in psychology from New York University.
A native of Lexington, Virginia, Hilary Hahn has won three Grammy awards. She began performing a the age of 3 and debuted with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at the age of 12. She earned a bachelor’s degree at the Curtis Institute of Music. Hahn was a visiting artist at Julliard during the 2023-24 academic year. She has also served as a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music, as the Chubb Fellow at Yale University’s Timothy Dwight College, and artist-in-residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Hahn has recorded 16 albums and had played on the soundtrack for many major films.
Stella Chen earned her doctoral degree at Juilliard in 2021. She has performed across North America, Europe, and Asia in concerto, recital, and chamber music settings, appearing as a soloist with orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Dr. Chen was the winner of the 2019 Queen Elizabeth International Violin Competition.. She is a member of the faculty at the annual Nume Festival and Academy in Cortona, Italy. She has also served as a visiting assistant professor of violin at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia.
Sheryl Staples joined the New York Philharmonic as Principal Associate Concertmaster and The Elizabeth G. Beinecke Chair, in September 1998. She made her solo debut with the Philharmonic in 1999. She has performed as a soloist with more than 45 orchestras nationwide. She began teaching at the age of 17 and has served on the violin faculties of Juilliard Pre-College, the Manhattan School of Music, the University of Southern California, and the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Nina Lee is a cellist who began learning cello in Chesterfield, Missouri, at the age of 10. Six years later, she left home to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Juilliard. She joined the Brentano Quartet in 1999, which is now housed at the Yale School of Music. The quartet has performed throughout North America, Australia, New Zealand, England, France, Germany, Spain, Japan, the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. She also has served on the faculty at Princeton University and Columbia University.