Joseph Genualdi began his formal training at age 11 with Broadus Erle. At age 14 he started high school at The North Carolina School of the Arts studying violin with Vartan Manoogian. 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 life long relationship with Felix Galimir.
At age 22, Genualdi won the audition as associate concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony. During his time in San Francisco 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 Concour’s D’Evian and the Naumberg Award. A performance seen on national television from the White House served to increase recognition for the ‘Muirs’. The Muir Quartet and pianist Jean Phillipe Collard Genualdi won the Grand Prix du Disque for their recording of the Frank 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, and Skaneateles.
Genualdi collaborators and mentors include Menahem Pressler, Pina Carmirelli, Felix Galimir, Midori, Gil Shaham, Michael Tree, Oscar Shumsky, Raphael Hillyer, Mieczyslaw Horsowski 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, and The Euro Arts Festival, Leipzig, Germany.
As Artistic Director of The Chicago Chamber Musicians for 17 years until July 2011, Genualdi worked closely with numerous composers including 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 Bolcom, Ellen Zwilich, 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. A CD with The Chicago Chamber Musicians of the Brahms Horn Trio and Clarinet Quintet released, May 2010. A recording of works by Peter Lieberson, Ellen Zwilich, and John Harbison releases in 2012.
