Milena
Pajaro-van de Stadt

Praised by The Strad magazine for having “a silky tone” and a “lyricism that stood out” and for creating “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 a soloist with the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Jacksonville Symphony, and the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, she’s performed in recitals and chamber music concerts throughout the United States, Latin America, Asia, and Europe, including an acclaimed 2011 debut recital at London’s Wigmore Hall, which The Strad described as “fleet and energetic . . . powerful and focused.”

Pajaro-van de Stadt was the founding violist of the Dover Quartet, which she performed with from 2008 to 2022. During her time in the group, the Dover Quartet was the first-prize winner and recipient of every special award at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition and the winner of the gold medal and grand prize at the 2010 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Her numerous awards also include first prize at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and top prizes at the Tokyo International Viola Competition and Sphinx Competition. While in the Dover Quartet, Pajaro-van de Stadt was on the faculties of the Curtis Institute of Music and Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, and she was a part of the quartet-in-residence at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. She’s now a member of the newly formed piano quartet Espressivo! along with acclaimed artists Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, and Anna Polonsky.

A violin student of Sergiu Schwartz and Melissa Pierson-Barrett for several years, Pajaro-van de Stadt began studying viola with Michael Klotz at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in 2005. She graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Roberto Díaz, Michael Tree, Misha Amory, and Joseph de Pasquale, and then received her master’s degree in string quartet performance with the Dover Quartet at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music as a student of James Dunham.