Paul Coletti

As viola soloist, chamber musician, and composer, Paul Coletti has performed throughout the world, making major appearances at the Edinburgh Festival, the Sydney Opera House, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, and IL Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. For ten years he played with the award winning Menuhin Festival Piano Quartet, and with Typhoon, an innovative Japan-based group that released numerous best-selling CDs and DVDs. Coletti’s discography includes more than thirty recordings, such as his celebrated recital disc English Music for Viola and a Grammy-nominated recording of Nicholas Maw’s Flute Quartet. Following studies at the Royal Scottish Academy and the International Menuhin Music Academy, he completed his education in Cincinnati, the Banff Center, and the Juilliard School, studying with Dorothy Delay, Felix Galimir, and Zoltan Szekely. Coletti has given master classes on five continents and currently serves on the faculty of the Colburn School Conservatory of Music and UCLA.

Paul Neubauer

Paul Neubauer joined the New York Philharmonic in 1984 at age 21, the youngest principal string player in the orchestra's history. His exceptional musicality and effortless playing have distinguished him as one of this generation’s quintessential artists. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras and festivals the world over, and has recorded with top labels including Decca, Delos, New World, RCA Red Seal, and Sony Classical. Additionally, he has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and A Prairie Home Companion. Among Neubauer’s numerous awards are First Prize in the Mae M. Whitaker International Competition, the D’Angelo International Competition, and the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition. He has been the recipient of a Solo Recitalist’s Fellowship from the N.E.A. and a special Prize from the Naumburg Foundation, which awarded him an Alice Tully Hall recital debut. Neubauer was the first violist chosen to receive an Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Nokuthula Ngwenyama

Nokuthula Ngwenyama is recognized as one of the foremost instrumentalists of her generation. Her acclaimed appearances as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician garner great attention, as she plays “music beautifully, with dazzling technique in the virtuoso fast movements and deep expressiveness in the slow movements (The Washington Post).” Ngwenyama came to international attention when she won the Primrose Competition and Young Concert Artists International Auditions, both at age 17. An Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, she has concertized extensively throughout the United States and abroad, including solo performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the National Symphony Orchestra, as well as recitals at Tokyo's Suntory Hall, the Louvre, the Ford Center in Toronto, the Maison de Radio France, the Kennedy Center, and the White House. She attended the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris as a Fulbright scholar, and holds degrees from the Curtis Institute and Harvard University.

Hsin-Yun Huang

Recognized as one of the leading violists of her generation, Hsin-Yun Huang came to international prominence in 1993 when she was winner of the top prize of the ARD International Music Competition in Munich and the Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award. Five years earlier, Huang had become the youngest-ever Gold Medalist of the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition. These and other honors have propelled her career as soloist and chamber musician in major concert halls throughout the world. Solo performances have included concerto appearances with orchestras in Munich, Paris, Tokyo, and Berlin, as well as annual engagements with the National Symphony of Taiwan. Huang has collaborated with many distinguished artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Joseph Suk, Menahem Pressler, Joseph Silverstein, and the Guarneri Quartet. Currently residing in New York City, she is also a dedicated teacher, serving on the faculties of the Juilliard School and the Mannes College of Music.

Misha Amory

Since winning the 1991 Naumburg Viola Award, Misha Amory has been active as a soloist and chamber musician. He has performed with orchestras in the United States and Europe, and has been presented in recital at New York’s Tully Hall, Los Angeles’ Ambassador series, and Philadelphia’s Mozart on the Square festival. He has been invited to perform at the Marlboro Festival, the Vancouver Festival, the Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center, and the Boston Chamber Music Society, and he has released a recording of Hindemith sonatas on the Musical Heritage Society label. Amory is a member of the Brentano Quartet, the first Resident String Quartet at Princeton University. Additionally, he serves on the faculty of the Juilliard School in New York City. He holds degrees from Yale University and the Juilliard School. Amory’s principal teachers were Heidi Castleman, Caroline Levine and Samuel Rhodes.

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Viacheslav Dinerchtein

Born in Minsk, Viacheslav Dinerchtein immigrated to Mexico in 1991, where he began an array of different musical activities. He has frequently appeared as a soloist with orchestra as well as in recitals throughout North America, having performed at the Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico City) among other stages. Dinerchtein is a frequent guest soloist and a chamber musician of diverse music festivals such as the Bach International Festival (Peru), Colloquium Music Festival (Zacatecas, Mexico), Spoleto Music Festival (Italy), Otono Internacional (Mexico City), Camarissima Music Festival (Mexico City), Niagara Music Festival (Canada) and others. For many years, he studied with his father, Boris Dinerchtein. Viacheslav Dinerchtein received the Master of Music and GPD in Chamber Music diplomas from the Peabody Conservatory of Music under Joseph de Pasquale, and subsequently joined the Northwestern University doctoral program as a student and teaching assistant of Roland Vamos.

Kirsten Docter

Cavani String Quartet member Kirsten Docter received a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin College. She also undertook further studies at the Curtis Institute of Music. Her teachers have included Karen Tuttle, Jeffrey Irvine, and Lynne Ramsey. She was first-prize winner in the 1991 Primrose International and 1992 American String Teachers Association Viola Competitions. As a member of the Cavani Quartet, she has been winner of the Naumburg Chamber Music Award, performed throughout North America and Europe, and appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Festival L‘Epau in France. The Quartet has been heard on numerous recordings on Azica Records and New World Records. Docter’s musical collaborators have included violinists Itzhak Perlman and Donald Weilerstein, pianist Anton Nel, cellist Joel Krosnick, and soprano Stephanie Blythe. She has given master classes throughout the United States. Additionally, she has served on the Cleveland Institute of Music faculty since 1993.

Pamela Goldsmith

Pamela Goldsmith, Adjunct Professor of Viola at the USC Thornton School of Music, was raised in Los Angeles and attended UCLA, Mannes College of Music, and Stanford University, where she received the degree Doctor of Musical Arts. Her principal teachers were Paul Doktor, William Kroll, and William Primrose. Prior to her current appointment, Goldsmith taught at California State Universities Los Angeles and Fullerton and at Stanford. She has been a member of the American Symphony Orchestra (Stokowski), Casals Festival Orchestra, and the Lincoln Center Chamber Orchestra. She was Principal Viola of the Cabrillo Music Festival. Her chamber music experience includes the Group for Contemporary Music at Columbia University, Camerata String Quartet, Stanford Chamber Players, and Sitka Music Festival. Goldsmith has participated in numerous first performances of contemporary music, and has presented solo recitals across the country on radio and television. Additionally, she is Secretary of the International Viola Society.

David Holland

David Holland serves as Instructor of Viola at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, an institution he has been affiliated with since 1973. He studied at Indiana University and Ohio University. He is a founding member of the Aurora Quintet and has performed with the New World, Stradivari, and Interlochen string quartets. While serving as resident violist, coordinator of the string chamber music curriculum, and conductor of the string orchestra at Interlochen, Holland has held visiting professorships at the University of Iowa, Ohio University, and South Dakota State University. He has had summer faculty appointments at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, the University of Iowa, Louisiana State University, Ithaca College, and Southern Methodist University. He is currently on the faculty at the Quartet Program located at Bucknell University. Recently he presented viola master classes at the University of Michigan, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Eastman School of Music.

Kim Kashkashian

Kim Kashkashian has established herself as one of the most accomplished artists of her generation. Inspiring worldwide critical acclaim, she has been hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “an artist who combines a probing, restless musical intellect with enormous beauty of tone.” In recent seasons, she has appeared as soloist with the major orchestras of New York, Berlin, London, Munich, and Tokyo. Her quest for new directions and forms, which she pursues through intense and continuous work with composers, is an active part of her musical life. As a result of these relationships with Gubaidulina, Penderecki, Kancheli, Kurtág, Mansurian, Pärt, and Eötvös, and most recently with Eitan Steinberg, Betty Olivero, Ken Ueno, and Thomas Larcher, Kashkashian has extensively enlarged the repertoire for solo viola. Her extensive discography on the ECM label has included numerous award-winning recordings. Kashkashian currently teaches viola and chamber music at the New England Conservatory.

Korey Konkol

Korey Konkol is Professor of Viola at the University of Minnesota School of Music. Previously, he served on the faculty at Bowling Green State University. Having studied with Walter Trampler, Eugene Lehner, and Roland Vamos, Konkol holds degrees from Western Illinois University and the New England Conservatory of Music. Konkol, who has concertized throughout Europe, Latin and South America, has extensive experience in solo, chamber music, and orchestral performance. He often performs with the Minnesota Orchestra and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. As violist in Twin Cities-based Ensemble Capriccio, he was awarded the first annual McKnight Foundation Fellowship for Performing Artists in 1997. Many compositions have been written for and recorded by Konkol, including works by Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, John Tartaglia, Stephen Paulus, Randall Davidson, and Judith Zaimont. Konkol recently received the American Viola Society Founders Award for his efforts as Host Chair of the 32nd International Viola Congress held in 2004.

John Largess

Violist John Largess began his studies in Boston at age 12 in the public schools, studying with Michael Zaretsky of the Boston Symphony, and later as a student of Michael Tree at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. In 1995, he graduated from Yale University to join the Colorado String Quartet as interim violist with whom he toured the United States and Canada, teaching and concertizing. The following year, Largess was appointed Principal Violist of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina, a position he held until joining the Miró Quartet in 1997. With his Bachelor's degree in Classical Archeology from Yale College, and studies at the Hebrew University in Israel, he has participated in excavations in Greece, Israel, and Jordan. Largess currently serves as Senior Lecturer of Viola at the Sarah & Ernest Butler School of Music of the University of Texas at Austin.

Kenneth Martinson

Kenneth Martinson, Assistant Professor of Viola at University of Florida, holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where he was a student of Martha Katz, and the University of Michigan, as a student of Yizhak Schotten. He was formerly the violist of the Julstrom String Quartet, the Potsdam Piano Quartet, and the Artaria Quartet of Boston. As a chamber musician, he has won numerous awards such as First Prize at the Coleman, Carmel, MTNA, and Yellow Springs competitions. Martinson is a frequent recitalist and has performed intensely challenging programs such as the four solo sonatas of Paul Hindemith and the complete sonatas of Darius Milhaud (also on his CD released by Centaur Records). He has also had two other discs released by Centaur, featuring viola chamber music of Rebecca Clarke and Bohuslav Martinů. Previously, Martinson was a featured guest artist at the 1999, 2002, and 2005 International Viola Congresses.

Kathryn Plummer

Kathryn Plummer is widely recognized for her recital artistry throughout the United States and Europe. She is a Professor of Viola at the Blair School of Music, Vanderbilt University, and was formerly on the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She studied with David Dawson at Indiana University and with Walter Trampler at the Juilliard School, and continued chamber music and master class studies with William Primrose. Plummer has performed as soloist at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., on National Public Radio, and in Alice Tully Hall. Additionally, she has performed with the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society in Washington, D.C., and participates each summer in the Festival der Zukunft in Ernen, Switzerland. She is a frequent guest artist with the Anchorage Music Festival and the Sitka Summer Music Festival. Plummer has recorded for the Orpheus, Red Mark, Varese Sarabande, Pantheon, and Gasparo labels.

Carol Rodland

Carol Rodland enjoys a multi-faceted career as a concert artist and teacher. Recent performance highlights have included recitals at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and Boston's Jordan Hall, concerto appearances with conductor Dennis Russell Davies and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, and chamber music concerts with the Borromeo, Cassatt, Colorado, and Henschel String Quartets throughout North America and Europe. An active proponent of contemporary music, Rodland is Co-Artistic Director of the contemporary music festival “Sound Encounters”. She has recorded for the Crystal and Neuma labels. Rodland made her solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra as a teenager and subsequently won first prizes at the Washington International Competition, the Artists International Auditions, and the Juilliard Concerto Competition, as well as the Universal Editions Prize at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition. She holds degrees from the Juilliard School, where she studied with Karen Tuttle, and currently teaches viola at the New England Conservatory.

Jacquelyn Schwandt

Jacquelyn Schwandt is Assistant Professor of Viola at Northern Arizona University. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Oregon and holds additional degrees from Wichita State University and Southern Methodist University. Schwandt is Principal Violist with the Flagstaff Symphony and is an active member of the NAU Faculty Chamber Music Series. Currently, she is President of the Arizona Chapter of the American Viola Society. She is active as a clinician and performer throughout the United States. In 2007, Schwandt performed Mozart’s Sinfonie Concertante with the Newport Symphony Orchestra. She has been a violist in the Eugene Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and Wichita Symphony, Assistant Principal Violist in the Spoleto USA and Italy Festival Orchestras, and Principal Violist of The Classic Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria. She has studied viola with Leslie Straka, William Magers, Ellen Rose, Catherine Consiglio, Eiji Ikeda, and Yitzak Schotten.

Carlos María Solare

A native of Buenos Aires, Carlos María Solare initially studied viola with Tomás Tichauer, He went to Berlin in 1980 on scholarship from the Herbert von Karajan Foundation and has remained there ever since. As a fellow of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestral Academy, he studied with former BPO principal, Giusto Cappone. He graduated from the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, under the guidance of Bruno Giuranna and Hans-Joachim Greiner. In addition, Solare attended master courses with William Primrose, Gérard Caussé, Donald McInnes, and Ulrich Koch. He was principal viola of the RIAS-Jugendorchester, with which he appeared as a soloist in Berlioz's Harold in Italy and Mozart's Serenata Notturna (the latter with former BPO leader Michel Schwalbé). At present, Solare works as a freelance writer and violist in Berlin, serves as Principal Violist of the Schaffrath Chamber Orchestra, and is preparing a Ph. D. in musicology at the Free University, Berlin.

Jennifer Stumm

Hailed as “outstanding” by The Strad, Jennifer Stumm was the recipient of First Prize in the 2006 Concert Artists Guild International Competition. Recognized for her unique musical voice and commanding stage presence, she is the first solo violist in the nearly 60-year history of the CAG Competition to achieve this honor. Prior competition successes include those at the William Primrose Viola Competition and the Vriendenkrans Concours of Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, both in 2005. The 2007-08 season includes Stumm’s recital debut at the Kennedy Center on the Washington Performing Arts Society Series, plus appearances at Wigmore Hall in London and Ravinia’s “Rising Stars Series”. Recent highlights have included performances at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. Stumm holds degrees from the Curtis Institute, where she was a student of Karen Tuttle, and the Juilliard School, where she studied with Samuel Rhodes.

Roland Vamos

A distinguished professor at Northwestern University, Roland Vamos graduated from the Juilliard School, where he received B.S., M.A., and D.M.A. degrees in violin and viola. Previously, he served on the faculties of Western Illinois University, the University of Minnesota, and Oberlin Conservatory. Vamos has won the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching four times, the ASTA Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award and has been featured on “CBS Sunday Morning”. He has also held principal positions in the Denver, Houston, and Radio City Music Hall Orchestras. He was a member of the Morningside and Lydian Trios, Contemporary and Antioch Quartets, and recorded on Coronet, Rizzoli, and Atlantic labels. Vamos has concertized and conducted performances throughout the United States, Taiwan, Korea, Greece, Australia, and Iceland. His students have won top prizes in many national and international competitions. Additionally, his students are members of leading symphony orchestras around the world.

Juliet White-Smith

Violist Juliet White-Smith is an active soloist and chamber recitalist and has performed to critical acclaim in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. Her chamber music collaborations have brought her onstage with such luminaries as violinists Andres Cardenes and Benny Kim and pianist Gilbert Kalish. She has been a featured artist at various summer music festivals including Strings in the Mountains in Colorado and the Fontana Festival in Michigan. As an orchestral musician, she has performed in the viola sections of the Cleveland Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, and Grand Rapids Symphony. A devoted educator with a history of printed contributions in American String Teacher and Journal of the American Viola Society, she is also currently President-Elect of the American Viola Society. White-Smith earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music and holds additional degrees from the University of Houston and Louisiana State University.

Hong Mei Xiao

Professor Hong-Mei Xiao is the first-prize winner of the Geneva International Music Competition. Her musical integrity and her virtuoso technique have gained accolades from reviewers around the world. A recipient of the coveted Patek Philippe Grand Prize, Xiao has performed in major concert halls throughout Europe, North America, and the Far East. She appeared as soloist with North German Radio Orchestra, L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, European Union Chamber Orchestra, Budapest Philharmonic, and Japan Philharmonic, among others. Xiao is the first violist to record both the original and newly revised versions of the Bartok Viola Concerto, released on CD by Naxos/Marco Polo. As an active chamber music performer, she has collaborated with renowned artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Joseph Silverstein, and Cho-Liang Lin. After graduating with highest honors from the Shanghai Conservatory, Xiao earned a Master of Music degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Heidi Castleman

Currently Professor of Viola at the Juilliard School, Heidi Castleman has taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, SUNY Purchase, and Rice University. During summers, she has appeared at the Aspen Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Banff Centre, Blossom Music Festival, and the Perlman Music Program. She has presented master classes and lecture/demonstrations at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and throughout the United States. In recent years, Castleman has received the Chamber Music America Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award, the national Artist-Teacher of the Year Award by ASTA with NSOA, and the American Viola Society Maurice W. Riley Award for distinguished contributions to viola teaching. A former member of the New York String Sextet, she has also served as guest artist with many ensembles, including the Cleveland, Audubon, Lydian, and Cavani Quartets.

Jeffrey Irvine

Jeffrey Irvine is presently the Fynette H. Kulas Professor of Viola at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Previously, he has served on the faculties of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music, and Wichita State University. During summers, Irvine is on the faculty of the ENCORE School for Strings and the Aspen Music Festival. He has given master classes at major music schools in the United States, and has also presented master classes in the People's Republic of China. His students have gone on to major orchestral, teaching, and chamber music posts and have often been first prize winners in major viola competitions, including the Primrose Competition, the ASTA National Solo Competition, and the Washington International Competition. Irvine holds degrees from the Philadelphia Musical Academy and Eastman School of Music. His teachers have included Heidi Castleman, Dorothy DeLay, Martha Katz, William Primrose, Margaret Randall, and Karen Tuttle.

Jerzy Kosmala

Recognized as one of the world’s premiere violists, Jerzy Kosmala has concertized throughout Europe, the former Soviet Union, Canada, North and South America, and Asia, and has recordings on Orion, Vox/MGM, and Centaur labels. He is a frequent guest artist at leading festivals and academies, including the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College, and Guildhall School of Music in London, the “Mozarteum” in Salzburg, and the Eastman, Juilliard, Manhattan, Berlin, Cologne, Dresden, Vienna, Prague, Warsaw, Krakow, and Hong Kong Schools of Music. A former member of the Krakow String Quartet and Eastman String Quartet, Kosmala is a student of legendary William Primrose, Eugenia Uminska, Francis Tursi, and other masters, and a graduate of the Krakow Academy of Music, Eastman School of Music, and Indiana University. He currently serves on the faculty of the University of California, Irvine, and is a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Donald McInnes

Donald McInnes, Professor of Viola at the USC Thornton School of Music, holds the position formerly held by his teacher, William Primrose. He is renowned for his performances with major orchestras, in recitals, chamber music and master classes, and as a resident member of the Camerata Pacifica Chamber Music Ensemble. McInnes has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Orchestre Nationale de France, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, CBC Radio Orchestra and Toronto Symphony, among others. His career includes close associations with such artists as Leonard Bernstein, Yehudi Menuhin, Janos Starker, Menahem Pressler, and Yo-Yo Ma. An active recording artist who can be heard on Columbia, RCA, Deutsche Grammaphone and Angel (EMI) recordings, McInnes has introduced many new works for viola including those commissioned for him by such composers as William Schuman, Vincent Persichetti, and Paul Tufts. He regularly appears at leading summer music festivals in North America and abroad.

Bruno Pasquier

After receiving the first prize from the Paris Conservatory in 1961 and First Place in the 1965 Munich International Competition, Bruno Pasquier became principal viola of the Paris Opera Orchestra and, later, the French National Orchestra. As principal violist, Pasquier gained the confidence of prominent conductors including Böhm, Solti, and Ozawa. Pasquier came to international attention when conductor Lorin Maazel invited him to appear as soloist with the National Orchestra of France on a tour of Japan in 1972. His activities and reputation as an international soloist continued to flourish, and since then he has performed throughout Europe, the United States, Canada, China, and Russia. Equally at home as a chamber musician, Pasquier performs frequently with his brother Regis Pasquier and cellist Roland Pidoux as a string trio. This trio has worked with musical greats such as Nadia Boulanger, Yehudi Menuhin, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Mstislav Rostropovich, Paul Tortelier, and Isaac Stern.

Karen Ritscher

Karen Ritscher, praised by The New York Times for her “superior musicianship,” is recognized internationally as a leading pedagogue and performer. Prior to her current appointment at Oberlin Conservatory, she taught viola and chamber music at such schools as Rice University, the Manhattan School of Music, the Mannes College of Music, and the Eastman School of Music. As a master class clinician, she has been invited to Canada, Mexico, Spain, Korea, Taiwan, and China. Ritscher performs regularly with the Azure Ensemble, and has been a member of the Aureus Piano Quartet, Steve Reich Musicians, and St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble. She has served as Principal Violist of the American Composers Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, and Dallas Opera. She has toured and recorded with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, New York Philharmonic and Houston Symphony. Ritscher recently recorded her first CD, featuring the complete works for viola and piano by Ernest Bloch.

Christine Rutledge

Violist Christine Rutledge has appeared as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician throughout the United States and abroad. Her performances and recordings have been praised in such publications as The Strad, Fanfare, The New York Times, and The New York Concert Review. Recent solo performances and master classes include those at four International Viola Congresses in the US, Germany, and Sweden, and at universities across the country. Rutledge's repertoire spans major works from the standard repertory to lesser-known and obscure works for the viola, particularly those for viola in unusual combinations. As a champion of new works, she has commissioned new pieces from many composers. Currently, she holds the position of Associate Professor of Viola at The University of Iowa. Rutledge is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music as a student of Karen Tuttle and Michael Tree, and The University of Iowa with William Preucil, Sr.

Claudine Bigelow

Claudine Bigelow is head of viola studies and chamber music coordinator at the Brigham Young University School of Music. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, and holds additional degrees from Brigham Young University. Her teachers have included Daniel Foster, Michael Tree, and David Dalton. At the University of Maryland, she participated in an intensive chamber music program coached by the Guarneri String Quartet. Bigelow has performed in the viola sections of the National and Utah Symphonies, Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, and National Chamber Orchestra. She has concertized across the United States, in Europe, and New Zealand. In 2003, she gave a lecture/recital on the Primrose International Viola Archive (PIVA) at the International Viola Congress in Kronberg, Germany. Currently on the board of the American Viola Society, and president of the Utah Chapter, Bigelow coordinates the annual Primrose Memorial Concert.

Mark Braunstein

Mark Braunstein brings 20 years experience as soloist, orchestral and chamber musician to his synergistic approach to teaching. Holding degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, he is a former student of Philip Teibel, Donald Weilerstein, David and Linda Cerone, and Robert Vernon. For two decades, Braunstein’s performance career spanned the globe: Assistant Principal Viola for the Cleveland Orchestra, Principal Viola for the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Violist for the Tononi Quartet, and member of Kansas City Philharmonic and Chautauqua Symphony. As a soloist, he performed in England, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, and the United States. He served on the faculties of the Hong Kong Conservatory of Music and Baldwin Wallace College. His writings on injury rehabilitation were published in an autobiographical article in American String Teacher Journal in 1995. Braunstein currently serves on the faculty of the Claremont Community Music School, and also teaches privately in Redlands and Los Angeles.

Yi-Fang Huang (pianist)

Yi-Fang Huang, a native of Taiwan, has performed regularly as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative pianist throughout United States, Europ and Asia at venues such as Walt Disney Concert Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, Louvre Museum, Grenoble Museum and Taiwan National Concert Hall. She has appeared with artists including Elmar Oliveira, Cynthia Phelps, Fred Sherry, Wu Han and Ransom Wilson. She was the guest artist at the OK Mozart festival, International Viola Congress and New York Philharmonic: Insights Series. Most recently, she recorded the Loeffler Two Rhapsodies with Cynthia Phelps and Sherry Sylar. Radio credits include Radio France; WWFM 89.1, The Classical Network; and Public Radio Tulsa. Ms. Huang received her BM and MM degrees from the Juilliard School. Her principal teachers included Martin Canin and Susan Starr. She is currently a faculty member at the Perlman Music Program and 2008 North American Viola Institute.

Matthew Jones

Matthew Jones combines his work as one of the UK’s busiest solo and chamber violists with his practice as a health consultant for musicians. He teaches the Alexander Technique, Kundalini Yoga and Meditation and is a ‘Performance Wellness’ trainer, combining all of the above in his work, helping musicians to realize their full potential. In this capacity, Jones has given seminars and workshops at all of the major conservatories in London, throughout Europe, with the European Union Youth Orchestra, the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, the Viola Space Japan festival (at the request of Nobuko Imai), and the Yehudi Menuhin violin competition. Jones is violist of the Bridge Duo, the Badke Quartet (winners of the 2007 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition), the Debussy Ensemble, and the Eden Viola Sextet (with former teacher Rivka Golani). He is professor of viola and chamber music at the Charterhouse International Music Festival.

Edward Klorman

Edward Klorman has performed at music festivals throughout the United States and Europe, including Aspen Music Festival, Centre d'Arts Orford (Quebec), IMS Prussia Cove (England), Music@Menlo, Oberstdorfter Musiksommer (Germany), Sarasota Music Festival, and Taos Music School. Recent chamber music performances include collaborations with the clarinetist Charles Neidich, pianist Joseph Kalichstein, and the Ying Quartet. In addition to his background as a performer, Klorman is also a noted musical scholar. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in music theory at the City University of New York Graduate Center, funded in full by a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, where he studies with Daniel Phillips. He has been invited to lecture on music theory and historical performance at the Salzburg Mozarteum, University of Montreal, and at the Juilliard School, where he is an assistant faculty member. A former student of Heidi Castleman and Hsin-Yun Huang, Klorman graduated with distinction from Juilliard.

Louise Lansdown

A native of Cape Town, South Africa, Louise Lansdown holds degrees from the University of Stellenbosch, where she studied with Jack De Wet and Eric Rycroft, and the Royal Northern College of Music, where she was a student of Alan George. In 2000, Lansdown was awarded the Rachel Godlee Prize for Viola from the Royal Northern College of Music. Shortly thereafter, she was appointed as a full-time member of staff in the School of Strings at the RNCM, as tutor of viola and chamber music. She also teaches at the University of Manchester, Junior RNCM, and Pro Corda. Lansdown examines for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and assists Manchester Music Service with access-widening Education Projects. She participates annually in the International Musical Arts Institute (IMAI) and performs regularly as a chamber musician, including a recent performance at the Hindemith Festival held at the Hochschule (in Zürich).

Donald Maurice

As Professor of Music and Head of Strings at the New Zealand School of Music, Donald Maurice teaches musicology, violin, viola, and chamber music, as well as supervising postgraduate study. Maurice is violist with the New Zealand Piano Quartet, has formerly been a violinist in the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and held principal positions in various regional orchestras. He performs regularly as a soloist and is a National Artist for Radio New Zealand. In addition to appearing on New Zealand-produced CDs, Maurice has ongoing recording projects with NAXOS. He has presented at International Viola Congresses in London, Chicago, Austin, Linkoping, Guelph, Seattle, Kronberg, Reykjavik, and Montreal. In 2006, Maurice served as guest artist at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and Workshop on the Isle of Man. Publications include his book Bartók’s Viola Concerto (Oxford University Press) and numerous articles which have appeared in journals in North America and Europe.

Luis Magín Muñiz

Luis Magín Muñiz is one of the most established Spanish musicians of his generation. He holds relevant positions in Spanish musical life by being President and Founder of the Spanish Viola Society and Professor of Viola at the Conservatorio Superior de Música (CONSMUPA). Muñiz has been awarded prizes in numerous competitions and his command of the instrument has encouraged many composers, including Jorge Muñiz, Juan Cué, Salvador Brotons, and Ximo Cano among others, to dedicate works for viola to him. Muñiz gave the world premiere of the Viola Concerto (op.106) by Salvador Brotons. Additionally, he is a member of the Turina Piano Quintet, which performs chamber music in major halls and festivals throughout Europe. Muñiz holds a Bachelor Degree in viola from Oviedo Conservatory and a Master of Music and Artist Diploma from Yale University, having been guided by three distinguished maestros, Wieslaw Rekucki, Yuri Yurov, and Jesse Levine.

Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot

Born in Vienna, Austria, Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot holds a diploma with excellence from the Wiener Hochschüle für Musik und Darstellende Kunst and a Masters of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, where she was a student and assistant of Heidi Castleman. Since 2001, she has been head of the string department at the University of Montréal. She returns frequently to Austria where she gives recitals and chamber music concerts in her hometown Vienna. Puchhammer-Sédillot is very active as a chamber musician and a recitalist, and has recorded under the SNE, Analekta, and UMMUS labels. She was the Artistic Director of the 1999 International Viola Congress in Guelph, Ontario, and the Host Chair of the 2006 International Viola Congress, held in Montréal. Additionally, she was invited to represent Canada as a performer in the 2000 International Viola Congress in Linköping, Sweden, and the 2003 International Viola Congress in Kronberg, Germany.

Kenji Bunch

Heralded as “A Composer to Watch” by the New York Times, Kenji Bunch has quickly emerged as one of the most prominent American composers of his generation, appealing to audiences and performers alike with a distinctive, vibrant voice. His compositions have been performed in premiere venues from New York to Ho Chi Minh City, and are regularly broadcast on nationwide radio including NPR, BBC, and NHK in Japan. A long association with the Ahn Trio has led to the commissioning of several works that the trio has recorded on EMI Classics, as well as a collaboration with the Parsons Dance Company and nationwide performances of his Hardware Concerto for piano trio and orchestra. His works have also been recorded on the Kleos Classics, RCA, Pony Canyon, GENUIN, Capstone, and Crystal labels. An alumnus of the Juilliard School, Bunch includes Robert Beaser, Eric Ewazen, and Stanley Wolfe among his composing mentors.

Scott Slapin

Scott Slapin was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1974. He began viola lessons at the age of eight, and by eighteen was one of the youngest graduates in the history of the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. He has premiered and recorded works written for him by such distinguished American composers as Gerald Busby, Richard Lane, Patrick Neher, and Frank Proto. As a composer, Slapin has written several chamber works featuring the viola, many of which can be heard on an Eroica Classical Recordings CD Reflection. He has been commissioned to write the required piece for the 2008 International William Primrose Viola Competition. Scott and his wife, violist Tanya Solomon, are former artists in residence at the Montalvo Arts Center in California, and they have been members of the symphony orchestras in São Paulo (Brazil), Louisville, and New Orleans, where they have been based since 2003.

Joan Tower

Hailed as “one of the most successful woman composers of all time” in The New Yorker magazine, Joan Tower was the first woman ever to receive the Grawemeyer Award in Composition. Her bold and energetic music, with its striking imagery and novel structural forms, has won large, enthusiastic audiences. Among recent works are Chamber Dance, commissioned by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and premiered at Carnegie Hall, Purple Rhapsody, a new viola concerto for Paul Neubauer, and her third string quartet, Incandescent, written for the Emerson String Quartet, performed at the opening of the new Frank Gehry-designed Richard B. Fisher Center at Bard College. Additionally, Tower is the first composer chosen for the ambitious new “Ford Made in America” commissioning program, a collaboration of the American Symphony Orchestra League and Meet the Composer. Her compositions have been recorded on NAXOS, Cedille, Koch, d'Note, Delos, New World, and First Edition labels.

Nancy Buck

Host Chair of the 36th International Viola Congress, Nancy Buck is Associate Professor of Viola at Arizona State University. She holds degrees in performance from the Oberlin Conservatory and the Cleveland Institute of Music. While at the Cleveland Institute of Music, she served as teaching assistant to Heidi Castleman. Much in demand as a chamber musician and artistic collaborator, Buck has presented recitals in leading concert venues throughout the United States and Europe. She is a member of the Phoenix Piano Quartet, and has performed with such chamber music groups as the Felici Quartet, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, and the Blakemore Trio. Additionally, Buck has appeared in concert with the Red Rocks Chamber Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, Strings in the Mountains Music Festival, Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, and Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory, where she maintains an artist faculty position during the summer.

Please note that only abbreviated biographies for 36th IVC Featured Artists are provided above. For an artist’s complete biography, please click on the accompanying photograph. Additionally, be aware that the list of Featured Artists is subject to change and will be updated periodically as warranted.