Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt — Viola
Praised by The Strad for her “lyricism that stood out… a silky tone and beautiful, supple lines,” Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt has established herself as one of the leading violists of her generation. She has appeared as a soloist with ensembles including the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, the Tokyo Philharmonic, Jacksonville Symphony, Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, and Symphony in C, and she has performed recitals and chamber music concerts throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Her acclaimed 2011 debut at London’s Wigmore Hall was described by The Strad as “fleet and energetic… powerful and focused.”
Pajaro-van de Stadt was the founding violist of the twice Grammy-nominated Dover Quartet, with whom she performed from 2008 to 2022. During her tenure, the ensemble won First Prize and every special award at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Gold Medal and Grand Prize at the 2010 Fischoff Competition, the Cleveland Quartet Award, and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. She has also been recognized individually with First Prize at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and top prizes at both the Sphinx Competition and the Tokyo International Viola Competition. While a member of the Dover Quartet, she served on the faculties of the Curtis Institute of Music and Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, and participated in the ensemble’s residency at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Today, Pajaro-van de Stadt is a member of the piano quartet Espressivo!, alongside Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, and Anna Polonsky.
A dedicated musician from an early age, she studied violin with Sergiu Schwartz and Melissa Pierson-Barrett before turning to the viola under the guidance of Michael Klotz at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in 2005. She graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, where her teachers included Roberto Díaz, Michael Tree, Misha Amory, and Joseph de Pasquale, and later earned her Master’s degree in String Quartet with the Dover Quartet at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, studying with James Dunham.