Joseph Genualdi serves as Professor of Violin at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance (UMKC).

 

He began his formal training at the age of 11 with Broadus Erle around the time of his performance debuts. At age 14 he started high school at The North Carolina School of the Arts studying violin with Vartan Manoogian and in masterclasses with Josef Gingold, Franco Gulli, and Erick Friedman.  Upon graduating from high school, he was admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he continued his violin studies with Jascha Brodsky and Ivan Galamian. During his years at Curtis, he formed a lifelong friendship with Felix Galimir. Later at Yale University, he studied violin with Oscar Shumsky and chamber music with Raphael Hillyer.

 

At the age of 22, Genualdi won the audition to serve as Associate Concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony; it was during this time in San Francisco that he became a founding member of the Muir Quartet, under the aegis of the Wardwell Fellowship at Yale University. The Muir Quartet captured international attention by winning the first prizes of Le Concours D’Evian and the Naumburg Award. A performance seen on national television from the White House served to increase recognition for the quartet.The Muir Quartet and pianist Jean Phillipe Collard (with Genualdi as first violin) won the Grand Prix du Disque for their recording of the Franck Piano Quintet (EMI-Angel). With the Muir, then later the Los Angeles Quartet, and the Chicago Chamber Musicians Genualdi has performed extensively throughout North America and Europe, also appearing at numerous festivals including Marlboro, Nimes (France), Spoleto (Italy), Cheltenham (GB), Bravo!Colorado, Angel Fire, Affinis (Japan),EuroArts (Leipzig), Arkansas, Ravinia,Skaneanteles,The Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, and the Interharmony Festival - Italy.  

 

Genualdi’s collaborators and mentors have included Menahem Pressler, Pina Carmirelli, Felix Galimir, Midori, Gil Shaham, Michael Tree, Oscar Shumsky, Raphael Hillyer, Mieczyslaw Horszowski and Richard Wilson.  Of particular note, and guiding influence, was his association with Rudoph Serkin.  

 

Genualdi has served on the faculties of Yale University, the University of Oregon, DePaul University, California State University-Northridge and The University of North Carolina School of the Arts. In summers he has taught at The Taos School of Music, Kneisel Hall, The Euro-Arts Festival in Leipzig & Halle Germany, The Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, and the Interharmony Festival in Acqui Terme, Italy.

 

Joseph Genualdi performs with The Chicago Chamber Musicians and served as Artistic Director for 17 years. Throughout his career, Genualdi has been involved in performing contemporary music and has worked closely with numerous composers, often involving commissions and recordings. Collaborations have been with Richard Wilson, John Corigliano, Pierre Boulez, Augusta Read Thomas, John Harbison, Aaron J Kernis, Bruce Adolphe, Steven Stucky, Joan Tower, David Del Tredici, Ned Rorem,William Bolcum, Ellen Zwillich, Bernard Rands, Robert Chumbley, Gabriela Frank, Dana Wilson, Mason Bates, Lee Hyla, Bright Sheng, Avner Dorman, George Perle, and Peter Lieberson.  His recordings are found on Music Master, Pickwick, EMI-Angel, Sony Classics, CRI, Summit, Albany, Naxos, and Cedille. CCM’s release on Summit Records of the Mozart Clarinet and Horn Quintets won a finalist nomination for the 2007 Grammy Awards. Other recent releases include performances of The Chicago Chamber Musicians of the Brahms Horn Trio and Clarinet Quintet and of works by Peter Lieberson, Ellen Zwillich, and John Harbison.