Bio
Celebrated by Washington Classical Review for her “exceptionally rich, deep tone” and by Strad magazine as having “lyricism that stood out…a silky tone and beautiful, supple lines,” violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt has established herself as one of the most sought-after violists of her generation. In addition to appearances as soloist with the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Jacksonville Symphony, and the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, she has performed in recitals and chamber-music concerts throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia, including an acclaimed 2011 debut recital at London’s Wigmore Hall, which was described in Strad as being “fleet and energetic…powerful and focused”.
Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt was the founding violist of the multi GRAMMY-nominated Dover Quartet, and played in the group from 2008-2022. During her time in the group, the Dover Quartet was the First Prize-winner and recipient of every special award at the Banff International String Quartet Competition 2013, and winner of the Gold Medal and Grand Prize in the 2010 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. The quartet was also awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant, The Cleveland Quartet Award, the Hunt Family Award from Lincoln Center, and The Consul General’s Award for Cultural Diplomacy by the Consulate General of the United States of America in Milan, Italy.
Her numerous awards also include First Prize of the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and top prizes at the Sphinx Competition and the Tokyo International Viola Competition. She is now a member of the newly formed piano quartet “Espressivo!” along with acclaimed artists Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, and Anna Polonsky. She performs regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Seattle Chamber Music Society, the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, and is a frequent performer in music festivals around the country such as La Jolla SummerFest, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, and Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival.
While in the Dover Quartet, Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt was on the faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music and Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, and a part of the Quartet in Residence at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. She has given masterclasses at numerous renowned institutions, including the Curtis Institute of Music, the Colburn School, Mannes School of Music, Eastman School of Music, Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Meadowmount School of Music, Toronto Summer Music, among many others. With the Dover Quartet on both the Cedille and Azica Records labels, she has released recordings of the entire Beethoven and Schumann Quartets, an album of Mozart chamber music entitled Tribute in honor of the Guarneri Quartet, and an album entitled Voices of Defiance, celebrating powerful music written during the Second World War. She has also collaborated on commercial recordings with The Pacifica Quartet and The Ehnes Quartet.
A violin student of Sergiu Schwartz and Melissa Pierson-Barrett for several years, she began studying viola with Michael Klotz at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in 2005. Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Roberto Diaz, Michael Tree, Misha Amory, and Joseph de Pasquale. She then received her Master’s Degree in String Quartet with the Dover Quartet at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, as a student of James Dunham.
