September 2026 issue | Juilliard Quartet | The Strad, essential reading for the string music world since 1890

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From this month's magazine

Juilliard Quartet at 80: lines of inquiry

As the Juilliard Quartet celebrates its 80th anniversary, its members speak to Thomas May about teaching, rehearsal‑room disagreement, new commissions and the essential questions that keep the ensemble’s tradition alive

‘Let it happen’: Kató Havas’s teaching philosophies

Kató Havas’s teaching remains widely admired but is still often misunderstood. Clifford Hall revisits the debates around her methods to reveal a more nuanced picture of her legacy

Postcard from Brussels: Queen Elisabeth Cello Competition

A week of high-stakes performances and exacting repertoire marked this year’s Queen Elisabeth Competition cello final, as Davina Shum discovered

September 2026: Editor’s welcome and contents

The Strad’s editor Emma Baker introduces the education-themed September issue, in which the Juilliard Quartet reflects on its 80-year history

An overlooked wonder: Pietro Barbieri

Despite having made only a handful of instruments in his career, Pietro Barbieri proved to be one of Mantua’s most accomplished luthiers. Philip Kass and Andrea Zanrè look into his life and examine an instrument from 1826

Masterclass: Haydn Piano Trio in C major, Hob.XV:27, first movement

Violinist Elene Meipariani of Trio E.T.A. highlights the importance of finding a unified sound that brings life to this sprightly movement

My Space: Daniel King and Joe Roach’s Cardiff workshop

The two luthiers present their workshop in the Welsh capital

‘Your first instrument is your body’ - Matthew Jones’s life lessons

The Welsh violist and violinist and head of chamber music at Guildhall School of Music & Drama on his teaching approach and unconventional journey

Henry Saint-George on performing in New Zealand - From the archive: September 1916

In his column ‘Fiddling About: A record of many wanderings’, violinist and author Henry Saint-George recalls his experiences of playing in New Zealand

In the midst of transition: the French transitional period – part two

In the second of two articles on the French transitional period, Florent Boyer examines the development of the violin in Paris between 1790 and 1830 – and how Nicolas Lupot’s influence proved to be seismic

Beyond the breakthrough: young artists’ programmes

Today’s young artists’ schemes serve very different purposes. Hattie Butterworth explores how programmes ranging from mentoring academies to career trusts and performance platforms support string players at different stages of their early careers

The practice principle: how I practise

Musicians spend thousands of hours practising but the questions about how to do it most efficiently never go away. Four leading string players share their insights with David Kettle and reveal their individual, and sometimes surprising, approaches to practice