Violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt joins the strings department faculty, effective August 2026
The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD) has announced the appointment of violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt as associate professor, effective August 2026.
’I could not be more thrilled to be joining the esteemed faculty at SMTD,’ Pajaro-van de Stadt said. “It is deeply meaningful to get to be part of this thriving, world-class artistic community – one I have admired since my first time in Ann Arbor as a 13-year-old competitor in the Sphinx Competition.
’I look forward to working side by side with phenomenal colleagues and mentoring talented and dedicated violists.’
Pajaro-van de Stadt was the founding violist of the multi-Grammy-nominated Dover Quartet and played with the group from 2008 to 2022. During her time with the ensemble, the Dover Quartet won first prize and received every special award at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, and it won the gold medal and grand prize in the 2010 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. The quartet also was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Cleveland Quartet Award, among others.
She won first prize at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and top prizes at the Sphinx Competition and the Tokyo International Viola Competition. She is a member of the newly formed piano quartet Espressivo! She performs regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Seattle Chamber Music Society, and the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, and she is a frequent performer at music festivals around the US.
Pajaro-van de Stadt previously served on the faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music and Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music and was part of the quartet in residence at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
She has given masterclasses at numerous 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, and Toronto Summer Music, among many others.
Pajaro-van de Stadt received degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.
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