This is a list of Wikipedia articles on notable

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

players. In cases where a violist has also achieved fame in another musical area, such as conducting or composing, this is noted.

Notable violists

A

Tasso Adamopoulos Tasso Adamopoulos (June 1944 – 3 January 2021)Julia Rebekka Adler Julia Rebekka Adler (née Mai; born 1978) is a German viola and viola d'amore player. Early life, family and education Julia Rebekka Mai was born in Heidelberg. She started playing viola at the age of six. Having won first prize at Jugend musi ...

(b. 1978) * Adolfo Alejo (b. 1986), conductor * Sir Hugh Allen (1869–1946), conductor *

Kris Allen Kristopher Neil Allen (born June 21, 1985) is an American singer and songwriter from Conway, Arkansas, and the winner of the eighth season of ''American Idol''. Prior to ''Idol'', he self-released a 2007 album, ''Brand New Shoes''. Allen's ...

(b. 1985) * Vladimir Altshuler (b. 1946), conductor *

Ruben Altunyan Ruben Tatuli Altunyan (Armenian language, Armenian: Ռուբեն Թաթուլի Ալթունյան; 31 March 1939 – 21 November 2021) was an Armenian composer, Viola, violist, and conductor. He was the son of conductor Tatul Altunyan. Select ...

(1939–2021), composer, conductor *

Johann Andreas Amon Johann Andreas Amon (1763 – March 29, 1825) was a German virtuoso guitarist, horn player, violist, conductor and composer. Amon composed around eighty works, including symphonies, concerti, sonatas, and songs. He also wrote two masses, vari ...

(1763–1825) * B. Tommy Andersson (b. 1964), composer, conductor *

Paul Angerer Paul Angerer (16 May 1927 – 26 July 2017) was an Austrian violist, conductor, composer and radio presenter. Life Angerer studied music theory and composition with Friedrich Reidinger and Alfred Uhl, and conducting with Hans Swarowsky. He ...

(1927–2017), composer * Steven Ansell (b. 1954) *

Atar Arad Atar Arad (Hebrew: עתר ארד; born 8 March 1945) is an Israeli American violist, professor of music, essayist and composer. Biography Arad and his brother, architect Ron Arad, were born in Tel Aviv, Israel. Arad began his training on the vio ...

(b. 1945), composer *

Cecil Aronowitz Cecil Aronowitz (4 March 19167 September 1978) was a British viola player, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, a leading chamber musician and an influential teacher at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music. C ...

(1916–1978) * Dino Asciolla (1920–1994) *

Jean-Marie Auberson Jean-Marie Auberson (May 2, 1920 – July 4, 2004) was a Swiss conductor and violinist. Early life and education Auberson was born in Chavornay, Vaud; his father, François Auberson, was a farmer. He studied violin and viola at the Lausanne Con ...

(1920–2004), violinist, conductor *

Emilie Autumn Emilie Autumn Liddell (born September 22, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter, poet, author and violinist. Autumn's musical style is described by her as "Fairy Pop", "Fantasy Rock" or "Victoriandustrial". It is influenced by glam rock and ...

* Eddie Ayres (b. 1967)

B

Joseph Baber Joseph Wilson Baber Jr. (September 11, 1937 – March 19, 2022) was an American composer, violist, and composition teacher living in Lexington, Kentucky. Life Baber was born in 1937 in Richmond, Virginia, and died in Lexington, Kentucky. He was a ...

(1937–2022), composer *

Johann Aegidius Bach Johann Aegidius Bach (9 February 1645 – November 1716) was organ (music), organist, Viola, violist, and municipal orchestra director of Erfurt, Germany. He was Johann Sebastian Bach's 1st cousin once removed, Johannes Bach's son, and the father of ...

(1645–1716), organist *

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

(1685–1750), composer *

Sigismund Bachrich Sigismund Bachrich (23 January 1841 – 16 July 1913), aka Sigmund Bachrich or Siegmund Bachrich, was a Hungarian composer, violinist, and violist of Jewish origin. He was born in Žabokreky in 1841. He studied violin at the Vienna Conservatoi ...

(1841–1913), composer, violinist *

August Baeyens August Louis Baeyens (5 June 1895 in Antwerp – 17 July 1966 in Antwerp) was a Belgian violist and composer. Baeyens studied viola, harmony and counterpoint with Napoleon Distelmans and August de Boeck at the Flemish Conservatory in Antwerp recei ...

(1895–1966), composer *

Vladimir Bakaleinikov Vladimir Romanovich Bakaleinikov, also Bakaleynikov and Bakaleinikoff (russian: Владимир Романович Бакалейников; 3 October 1885 in Moscow – 5 November 1953 in Pittsburgh) was a Russians, Russian-American Viola, violi ...

(1885–1953), conductor, composer *

Michael Balling Michael Balling (27 August 1866 in Heidingsfeld, near Würzburg – 1 September 1925 in Darmstadt) was a German violist and conductor. He served as principal conductor of The Hallé, Manchester, England from 1912 to 1914. Balling studied violi ...

(1866–1925), conductor *

Alain Bancquart Alain Bancquart (20 June 1934 – 27 January 2022) was a French composer. Biography Bancquart had his musical formation at the Conservatoire de Paris (violin, viola, chamber music, counterpoint, fugue and composition) with Darius Milhaud. He wa ...

(1934–2022), composer *

Rudolf Barshai Rudolf Borisovich Barshai (russian: Рудольф Борисович Баршай, link=no, September 28, 1924November 2, 2010) was a Soviet and Russian conductor and violist. Life Barshai was born on September 28, 1924, in Stanitsa Labinskay ...

(1924–2010), conductor *

Hans-Christian Bartel Hans-Christian Bartel (born 27 November 1932 − 27 December 2014) was a German violist and composer. Life Born in Altenburg, Bartel was the son of a teacher. He got his first violin lessons at the age of six. After graduating from high school h ...

(1932–2014), composer *

Yuri Bashmet Yuri Abramovich Bashmet (russian: link=no, Юрий Абрамович Башмет; born 24 January 1953) is a Russian conductor, violinist, and violist. Biography Yuri Bashmet was born on 24 January 1953 in Rostov-on-Don in the family of Ab ...

(b. 1953) *

Cathy Basrak Cathy Basrak (born 1977) is an American violist. She is the Assistant Principal Violist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and gave the premiere of the John Williams' viola concerto. She previously won several important viola competitions such as t ...

(b. 1977) *

Natalie Bauer-Lechner Natalie atalia Anna JulianaBauer-Lechner (Penzing, Vienna, 9 May 1858 – Vienna, 8 June 1921) was an Austrian violist who is best known to musicology for having been a close and devoted friend of Gustav Mahler in the period between 1890 and the s ...

(1858–1921) *

Sally Beamish Sarah Frances Beamish (born 26 August 1956) is a British composer and violist. Her works include chamber, vocal, choral and orchestral music. She has also worked in the field of music, theatre, film and television, as well as composing for chi ...

(b. 1956), composer *

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

(1770–1827), composer * Sviatoslav Belonogov (b. 1965) *

Mitrofan Belyayev Mitrofan Petrovich Belyayev (russian: Митрофа́н Петро́вич Беля́ев; old style 10/22 February 1836, St. Petersburg22 December 1903/ 4 January 1904) was an Imperial Russian music publisher, outstanding philanthropist, a ...

(1836–1904) *

František Benda František () is a masculine given name of Czech origin. It is a cognate of Francis, Francisco, François, and Franz. People with the name include: *Frank Daniel (František Daniel) (1926–1996), Czech film director, producer, and screenwriter ...

(1709–1786), composer *

Jiří Antonín Benda Georg Anton Benda ( cz, Jiří Antonín Benda, italic=no, link=no; 30 June 17226 November 1795) was a composer, violinist and Kapellmeister of the Classical period (music), classical period from the Kingdom of Bohemia. Biography Born into a Bend ...

(1722–1795), composer *

Daniel Benyamini Daniel Benyamini (Tel Aviv, 1925–1993) was an Israeli violist, who studied at the Shulamit Conservatory. He served as the Israel Philharmonic's principal violist (1960–1990), a chair he also held at the Orchestre de Paris under Daniel Barenboi ...

(1925–1993) * Wilhelm Georg Berger (1929–1993), composer *

Yehonatan Berick Yehonatan Berick ( he, יהונתן בריק; August 30, 1968 – October 31, 2020) was a violin and viola virtuoso and pedagogue. Born in Holon, Israel, he started his musical education at the age of six. His principal violin teachers were Ilo ...

(b. 1968), violinist * Harry Berly (1905–1937) * Lise Berthaud (b. 1982) *

Vasily Bessel Vasily Vasil’yevich Bessel (russian: Василий Васильевич Бессель April 25 S April 13 1843 (1842?) St Petersburg – March 1, S February 161907, Zurich) was a Russian music publisher. Bessel graduated from the Saint Pete ...

(1843–1907), music publisher * Roger Best (1936–2013) * Mikhail Bezverkhny (b. 1947), violinist * Franz Beyer (1922–2018), musicologist *

Hatto Beyerle Hatto Beyerle (20 June 1933 – 16 October 2023) was a German-Austrian violist who played mainly as a chamber musician, conductor and academic teacher. He was a founding member of the Alban Berg Quartet, and remained with the string quartet un ...

(b. 1933), conductor *

Luigi Alberto Bianchi Luigi Alberto Bianchi (1 January 1945 – 3 January 2018) was an Italian violinist and violist. Life Bianchi was born in 1945 in Rimini, into a musical family, and from the age of six he had violin lessons.Benjamin Blake Benjamin Blake (22 February 1751, in Hackney, London – 1827 in London) was an English violinist, viola player and composer. Most of what is known about him comes from information he supplied for Sainsbury's dictionary in 1824. As a boy he was ...

(1751–1827), composer, violinist *

Herbert Blendinger Herbert Blendinger (3 January 1936 - 15 May 2020) was an Austrian composer and viola player of German origin. Career Born in Ansbach, Blendinger studied viola and composition with Willy Horwath and Max Gebhard at the conservatory in Nuremberg, ...

(1936–2020), composer *

Joseph von Blumenthal Joseph von Blumenthal, also known as Joseph de Blumenthal (1 November 1782 – 9 May 1850), was an Austrian violinist and violist, influential pedagogue and composer. Biography Joseph von Blumenthal was born in Brussels, the son of Baron Joseph ...

(1782–1856), violinist, composer *

Alexandre Pierre François Boëly Alexandre may refer to: * Alexandre (given name) * Alexandre (surname) * Alexandre (film) See also * Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom o ...

(1785–1858) *

Emil Bohnke Emil Bohnke (11 October 1888 – 11 May 1928) was a German violist, composer and conductor active in Berlin. Life Born in Zduńska Wola near Łódź, Poland, Emil Bohnke was the son of textile manufacturer Ferdinand Bohnke. From 1901 to 1908, ...

(1888–1928), composer, conductor *

Vadim Borisovsky Vadim Vasilyevich Borisovsky (russian: Вадим Васильевич Борисовский; January 20, 1900 – July 2, 1972) was a Soviet and Russian violist. Biography Born in Moscow, Borisovsky entered Moscow Conservatory in 1917 studying ...

(1900–1972) *

Jacques Borsarello Jacques Borsarello (born 1951) is a French classical violist. Life Born in Toulon, Borsarello was a student of Serge Collot and Bruno Pasquier at the Conservatoire de Paris. A member of the Loewenguth Quartet for four years, he was a member of ...

(b. 1951) *

York Bowen Edwin York Bowen (22 February 1884 – 23 November 1961) was an English composer and pianist. Bowen's musical career spanned more than fifty years during which time he wrote over 160 works. As well as being a pianist and composer, Bowen was a ...

(1884–1961), composer, pianist * Máximo Arrates Boza (1859–1936), composer *

Frank Bridge Frank Bridge (26 February 187910 January 1941) was an English composer, violist and conductor. Life Bridge was born in Brighton, the ninth child of William Henry Bridge (1845-1928), a violin teacher and variety theatre conductor, formerly a m ...

(1879–1941), composer *

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

(1913–1976), composer * (b. 1942), composer * Carolyn Waters Broe, composer, conductor * Sheila Browne (b. 1971) *

František Brož František Brož (10 April 1896 in Prague – 21 July 1962 in Prague) was a Czechs, Czech Viola, violist, composer, Conducting, conductor and music educator. Biography Brož studied violin at the Prague Conservatory with Jindřich Baštař. He l ...

(1896–1962), composer *

Gerard von Brucken Fock Gerardus Hubertus Galenus von Brucken Fock (28 December 1859 – 15 August 1935) was a nineteenth-century classical Dutch pianist who gave up his career as a performer to compose and paint. Constantly torn between art and church, he traveled much ...

(1859–1935), composer *

Bjarne Brustad Bjarne Brustad (4 March 1895, in Kristiania, now Oslo – 20 May 1978, in Oslo) was a Norwegian composer, violinist and violist. He played with symphonic orchestras in Stavanger and Oslo. In the 1920s he travelled to European cities such as ...

(1895–1978), composer, violinist *

Peter Bucknell Peter Wentworth Bucknell (born 1967) is a filmmaker, author and classical violist residing in Barcelona. Film Known best for his underwater films, Bucknell is a commercial and documentary film maker. In 2014 he wrotThe Underwater GoPro Book an i ...

(b. 1977) *

Kenji Bunch Kenji Bunch (born July 27, 1973) is an American composer and violist living in Portland, Oregon. Bunch currently serves as the artistic director oFear No Musicand teaches at Portland State University, Reed College, and for the Portland Youth Phil ...

(b. 1973) *

Caleb Burhans Caleb Burhans is an American composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist in the contemporary/modern music scene. He has been commissioned by Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Library of Congress, and the Kronos Quartet. His works have been performed ...

(b. 1980), composer

C

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...

(b. 1942) *

Helen Callus Helen Callus is a British violist who teaches at Northwestern University. Callus studied with Ian Jewel at the Royal Academy of Music in London, earning an Honorary ARAM (Associate of the RAM). She then continued her studies at the Peabody Cons ...

Bartolomeo Campagnoli Bartolomeo Campagnoli (September 10, 1751 – November 6, 1827) was an Italian violinist and composer. Campagnoli was a virtuoso violinist who toured Europe propagating the 18th Century Italian violin style. He also has a number of compositions t ...

(1751–1827), composer, violinist *

Giuliano Carmignola Giuliano Carmignola (born 7 July 1951, in Treviso) is an Italian violinist. Born in Treviso, he studied with his father, then with Luigi Ferro at the Venice Conservatory and afterwards with Nathan Milstein and Franco Gulli at the Accademia Chigia ...

(b. 1951), violinist *

David Aaron Carpenter David Aaron Carpenter is an American violist and was the first Prize Winner of the 2006 Walter W. Naumburg Viola Competition. Along with his two siblings, the trio perform as The Carpenters, and the family, including their mother, run a family bu ...

(b. 1986) *

Henri Casadesus Henri-Gustave Casadesus (30 September 1879, Paris – 31 May 1947, Paris) was a violist, viola d'amore player, composer, and music publisher. Early life Casadesus received his early musical instruction with Albert Lavignac and studied viola with ...

(1879–1947) *

Gérard Caussé Gérard Caussé (born 26 June 1948, Toulouse, France) is a French violist. He gave the first performance of the celebrated '' Ainsi la nuit'' quartet by Henri Dutilleux. The first movement of Gérard Grisey's celebrated work, ''Les Espaces Acous ...

(b. 1948) *

Eugenio Cavallini Eugenio Cavallini (16 June 1806 — 11 April 1881) was an Italian conductor, composer, violinist, and Viola, violist. In 1833 he became first violinist of the orchestra at La Scala, a post he held through 1855. He also served as a conductor at La ...

(1806–1881), violinist, conductor * Alain Celo (b. 1960), composer * Ladislav Černý (1891–1975) *

Eugène Chartier Eugène Chartier (1893 – 1 November 1963) was a Canadian violinist, violist, conductor, and teacher. Born in Montreal, Chartier studied the violin with Alfred De Sève and Oscar Martel. He played second violin with the Dubois String Quartet fr ...

(1893–1963), violinist, conductor *

Roger Chase Roger Chase (born in London in 1953) is a British violist who currently teaches at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Life Roger Chase was born in London and studied under Bernard Shore (with occasional lessons fr ...

(b. 1953) * André Hippolyte Chélard (1789–1861), composer, conductor * Rebecca Clarke (1886–1979), composer *

Caroline Coade Caroline Coade is an American violist who was born and raised in San Diego. She began playing violin at the age of 6 but switched to viola when she turned 14. She graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy and then pursued her Bachelor of Music de ...

Eric Coates Eric Francis Harrison Coates (27 August 1886 – 21 December 1957) was an English composer of light music and, early in his career, a leading violist. Coates was born into a musical family, but, despite his wishes and obvious talent, his pa ...

(1886–1957), composer *

Paul Coletti Paul Coletti (born 1959 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish viola soloist and chamber musician. He has performed throughout the world, making solo appearances at the Sydney Opera House, Queen Elizabeth Hall (London) and Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires). H ...

(b. 1959) * Anthony Collins (1893–1963), composer, conductor *

Serge Collot Serge Collot (27 December 1923 – 11 August 2015) was a French violist and music educator. Biography Born in Paris, Collot studied viola at the Conservatoire de Paris with Maurice Vieux, chamber music with Joseph Calvet, and composition with ...

(1923–2015) *

Carlton Cooley Samuel Carlton Cooley (April 15, 1898 in Milford, New Jersey – November 1981 in Stockton, New Jersey) was an American Viola, violist and composer. Biography Cooley studied at the University of the Arts (Philadelphia), Philadelphia Musical Acade ...

(1898–1981), composer *

Winifred Copperwheat Winifred May Copperwheat (10 October 190523 February 1976) was an English classical music, classical viola player and teacher. She studied under English violist Lionel Tertis at the Royal Academy of Music. Tertis later said after one of her rec ...

(190576), performer, teacher * Paul Cropper (1913–2006) * Wayne Crouse (1924–2000) *

John Curro John Ronald Curro (6 December 1932 – 6 November 2019) was an Australian violinist, violist, conductor and music director. Curro was the founder (1966) and Director of Music of the Queensland Youth Orchestras, with which he established the Nati ...

(1932–2019), conductor

D

* David Dalton (b. 1934) *

Harry Danks Harry Danks, (1912-2001) was a British violist and principal viola of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1946 to 1978. He was the founder and director of the London Consort of Viols. Biography Harry Danks was born in Pensnett near Bridgnorth in W ...

(1912–2001) *

Steven Dann Steven Dann (born December 27, 1953) is a Canadian violist. Early years Dann was born in Burnaby, British Columbia. He played the violin until 1970, when he switched to the viola. He began studying with Lorand Fenyves in Toronto in 1972, and con ...

(b. 1953) *

Gyula Dávid Gyula Dávid (May 6, 1913 – March 14, 1977) was a Hungarian violist and composer. Dávid studied composition with Zoltán Kodály at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. He played viola with the Municipal Orchestra in Budapest from 1940 to 19 ...

(1913–1977) *

Tania Davis Tania Davis (born 4 July 1975) is the first violinist of the British/Australian European classical music, classical Crossover (music), crossover string quartet Bond (band), Bond. Originally the violist of the quartet, she became the first violin ...

(b. 1975) *

Brett Dean Brett Dean (born 23 October 1961) is an Australian composer, violist and conductor. Biography Brett Dean was born, raised and educated in Brisbane. He started learning violin at the age of eight, and later studied viola with Elizabeth Morgan a ...

(b. 1961) *

Christophe Desjardins Christophe Desjardins (24 April 1962 – 13 February 2020) was a French violist and specialist in contemporary music. Biography Born in Caen, Christophe Desjardins entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1982, at the age of 20, in Serge Collot' ...

(1962–2020) *

Jack Delano Jack Delano (born Jacob Ovcharov; August 1, 1914 – August 12, 1997) was a Ukrainian immigrant who became an accomplished photographer for the Works Progress Administration, United Fund, and most notably, the Farm Security Administration (FSA). ...

(1914–1997), composer *

Alan de Veritch Alan de Veritch (born July 18, 1947) is an American violist and viola teacher. He studied with William Primrose and performed in the Los Angeles Philharmonic for at least ten years. He has taught viola in various universities and was the president ...

(b. 1947) *

Brett Deubner Brett Deubner (born March 31, 1968, Berkeley, California) is an American Viola, violist. He has performed as concerto Soloist (music), soloist with over 70 orchestras on four continents. Early life Growing up his primary teachers were violinis ...

(b.1968) * Patrizia Di Paolo * Roberto Díaz (b. 1960) *

Viacheslav Dinerchtein Viacheslav Dinerchtein (born October 30, 1976) is a prominent violist and an avid promoter of both novel and overlooked viola repertoire. His performances as a recitalist and chamber musician have taken him to prestigious venues, such as the Ke ...

(b. 1976) *

Paul Doktor Paul Doktor (March 28, 1917 in Vienna – June 21, 1989 in New York City) was a notable violist and orchestra conductor. The son of singer-pianist Georgine and violist Karl Doktor, at the age of five, Paul began violin studies with his father ...

(1919–1989) *

Demetrius Constantine Dounis Demetrius Constantine Dounis (also Demetrios), also known as D. C. Dounis ( gr, Δημήτριος Κωνσταντίνος Δούνης; ''c.''1886 to 1894 – August 13, 1954), was an influential teacher of violin and string instrument technique ...

(1886–1954), violinist, pedagogue *

Dimitris Dragatakis Dimitris Dragatakis (Greek: Δημήτρης Δραγατάκης; 22 January 1914 – 18 December 2001) was a Greek composer of classical music and Greek art music. He was born in Platanoussa, Epirus in 1914 and studied the violin from 1930 to ...

(1914–2001), composer *

Karen Dreyfus Karen Dreyfus is a violist who currently teaches at the USC Thornton School of Music. Ms. Dreyfus has distinguished herself as a recipient of many prizes, including the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation, Naumburg Viola Competition (1982), the Lionel T ...

Duncan Druce Robert Duncan Druce (23 May 193913 October 2015) was an English composer, string player and musicologist, noted for his breadth of musical interests ranging from contemporary music to baroque and early music, as well as music of India. Educatio ...

(1939–2015), composer *

Fyodor Druzhinin Fyodor Serafimovich Druzhinin, also Fedor, (russian: Фёдор Серафимович Дружинин; 6 April 1932 in Moscow – 1 July 2007) was a Soviet violist, composer and music teacher. Druzhinin studied viola at the Moscow Central Musi ...

(1932–2007) * Philip Dukes (b. 1968) * Matthias Durst (1815–1875), violinist, composer *

Charles Dutoit Charles Édouard Dutoit (born 7 October 1936) is a Swiss conductor. He is currently the principal guest conductor for the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia and co-director of thMISA Festival in Shanghai In 2017, he became the 103rd recipient of th ...

(b. 1936), conductor *

Lawrence Dutton Lawrence Dutton (born 9 May 1954) is an American violist, and a member of the Emerson String Quartet. He earned a bachelor's and master's degree from the Juilliard School where he studied with Lillian Fuchs. He is on the faculty of the State Un ...

(b. 1954) *

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...

(1841–1904), composer

E

Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst (8 June 18128 October 1865) was a Moravian-Jewish violinist, violist and composer. He was seen as the outstanding violinist of his time and one of Niccolò Paganini's greatest successors. He contributed to polyphonic playin ...

(1814–1865), violinist * Ernest van der Eyken (1913–2010), composer, conductor

F

Ralph Farris Ralph Farris (born Ralph Howard Farris, Jr., 1970) is an American violist, violinist, composer, arranger, producer and conductor, best known as a founding member and artistic director of the ensemble ETHEL. Farris is an electric string player wit ...

(b. 1970) *

Kristina Fialová Kristina Fialová is a Czech classical violist . She is a graduate of the Brno Conservatory (Miroslav Kovář), the Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (Prof. Jan Pěruška), the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen ( ...

Federigo Fiorillo Federigo Fiorillo (baptized 1 June 1755 Brunswick, Germany, died after 1823) was a mandolinist and composer, who wrote thirty-six caprices for violin, also called études. Life and career Fiorillo's father was Ignazio Fiorillo, a Neapolitan, wh ...

(1753–c.1823), violinist, composer, pedagogue *

William Flackton William Flackton (bap. 27 March 1709 – 5 January 1798) was an 18th-century bookseller, publisher, amateur organist, viola player and composer. He is perhaps best known today for his compositions for the viola. Flackton was born in Canterbury and ...

(1709–1978), composer *

Richard Fleischman Richard Fleischman (born 1963) is an American violist and viola d'amore player, conductor and pedagogue. Winner of the 1988 Windsor Prize, presented by Leonard Bernstein, the 1984 Edward Steuermann Prize and a Naumberg Scholarship from the Jui ...

(b. 1963) *

Watson Forbes Watson Douglas Buchanan Forbes (16 November 1909 in St Andrews – 25 June 1997 in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire) was a Scottish violist and classical music arranger. From 1964 to 1974 he was Head of Music for BBC Scotland. Early life Wats ...

(1909–1997) *

Cecil Forsyth Cecil Forsyth (30 November 1870, in Greenwich – 7 December 1941, New York City) was an English composer and musicologist.Colles, H.C. 'Cecil Forsyth' in ''Grove Music Online'' (2001) He studied at the University of Edinburgh and at the Royal ...

(1870–1941), composer *

Johannes Fritsch Johannes Georg Fritsch (27 July 1941 – 29 April 2010) was a German composer. At the age of seven, Fritsch found a violin in the attic of his uncle's house in Bensheim-Auerbach, Germany, and began lessons with a village music teacher named Kna ...

(1941–2010), composer *

Lillian Fuchs Lillian Fuchs (November 18, 1901 – October 5, 1995) was an American violist, teacher and composer. She is considered to be among the finest instrumentalists of her time. She came from a musical family, and her brothers, Joseph Fuchs, a viol ...

(1901–1995) *

Arthur Furer Arthur Furer (28 March 1924 – 8 November 2013) was a Swiss musician and composer. Life Born in Worb, Furer studied at the University of Bern and was solo violist in the and violinist in the Bern Symphony Orchestra and among others in the cha ...

(1924–2013), composer, violinist *

Paul Walter Fürst Paul Walter Fürst (25 April 1926 – 28 February 2013) was an Austrian musician and composer. He was also president of the (AKM) since 1998 and for many years managing director and president of the Österreichischen Interpretengesellschaft (OES ...

(1926–2013), composer *

Kenji Fusé Kenji Fusé (born 1965 in Northfield, Minnesota) is a Canadian violist and composer living in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He currently holds the position of principal viola with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. He also teaches at the Vic ...

(b. 1965), composer

G

Grigori Gamburg Grigori (German) Semyonovich Gamburg (russian: Григорий (Герман) Семёнович Гамбург; also Grigorij Gamburg, Grigory Semenovich Hamburg; in Warsaw, Vistula Land, Russian Empire – 28 October 1967 in Moscow, Soviet Unio ...

(1900–1967), composer, conductor * John Garvey (1921–2006), conductor *

Ottmar Gerster Ottmar Gerster (29 June 1897 in Braunfels, Germany – 31 August 1969 in Borsdorf) was a German viola player, conductor and composer who in 1948 became rector of the Liszt Music Academy in Weimar. Life Ottmar Gerster was born some 50 k ...

(1897–1969), composer, conductor *

Carlo Maria Giulini Carlo Maria Giulini (; 9 May 1914 – 14 June 2005) was an Italian conductor. From the age of five, when he began to play the violin, Giulini's musical education was expanded when he began to study at Italy's foremost conservatory, the Conserva ...

(1914–2005), conductor *

Bruno Giuranna Bruno Giuranna (born 6 April 1933 in Milan) is an Italian violist. Giuranna was also responsible for a transcription of Bach's Goldberg Variations The ''Goldberg Variations'', BWV 988, is a musical composition for keyboard by Johann Se ...

(b. 1933) *

Donald A. Glaser Donald Arthur Glaser (September 21, 1926 – February 28, 2013) was an American physicist, neurobiologist, and the winner of the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the bubble chamber used in subatomic particle physics. Educ ...

(1926–2013), Nobel Prize–winning physicist *

Roland Glassl Roland Glassl (born 1972 in Ingolstadt, West Germany) is a professional German viola player. He has won the Lionel Tertis Competition as well as the International Competition in Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , ...

(b. 1972) *

Rosemary Glyde Rosemary Glyde (September 15, 1948 — January 18, 1994) was an American violist and composer. Focusing on expanding the limited repertory for solo viola, she wrote and transcribed many works for that instrument, including Sergei Rachmaninoff's Cel ...

(1948–1994), composer *

Rivka Golani Rivka Golani ( he, רבקה גולני , born 22 March 1946) is a world–renowned Israeli-born viola player. She has performed as soloist with many orchestras throughout the world including the Boston Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Royal Conc ...

(b. 1946) *

Richard Goldner Richard Goldner (23 June 1908 – 27 September 1991) was a Romanian-born, Viennese-trained Australian violist, pedagogue and inventor. He founded Musica Viva Australia in 1945, which became the world's largest entrepreneurial chamber music organ ...

(1908–1991) *

Jonny Greenwood Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood (born 5 November 1971) is an English musician and composer. He is the lead guitarist and keyboardist of the alternative rock band Radiohead, and has written numerous film scores. Along with his elder brother, th ...

, lead guitarist of Radiohead *

Ebbe Grims-land Ebbe Grims-land Ebbe Grims-land (June 11, 1915 – January 27, 2015) was a Swedish composer and viola player. He was also one of Sweden's foremost mandolin players. Grims-land was born in Malmö and died in Bagarmossen, Enskede, Stockholm. ...

(1915–2015) * Amihai Grosz (b. 1979)

H

Veronika Hagen Veronika Hagen (born 5 May 1963, in Salzburg) is an Austrian Viola, violist. Born in Salzburg, Hagen began to learn music at the age of six with her father, who was at that time concertmaster of the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg. She then contin ...

(b. 1963) *

Dietmar Hallmann Dietmar Hallmann (born 5 April 1935) is a German musician who was professor for viola and chamber music at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig. Life Hallmann was born in Breslau.After the Second World War Hallmann moved to Burkhardtsdorf ...

(b. 1935) * Hope Hambourg (1902–1989) * Harutyun Hanesyan (1911–1987), composer *

John Harbison John Harris Harbison (born December 20, 1938) is an American composer, known for his symphonies, operas, and large choral works. Life John Harris Harbison was born on December 20, 1938, in Orange, New Jersey, to the historian Elmore Harris Harb ...

(b. 1938), composer * Kenneth Harding (1903–1992), composer *

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

(1732–1809), composer *

Donald Heins Donald Heins (19 February 1878 – 1 January 1949) was a Canadian violinist, violist, conductor, organist, composer, and music educator of English birth. He notably founded the first professional orchestra in Ottawa, the Ottawa Symphony Orchest ...

(1878–1949), violinist, conductor, composer * Willy Hess (1859–1939), violinist *

Raphael Hillyer Raphael Hillyer (April 10, 1914 – December 27, 2010) was a Jewish American viola soloist, teacher. Born Raphael Silverman in Ithaca, New York, his career included playing in the Boston Symphony Orchestra and co-founding the Juilliard Strin ...

(1914–2010) *

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...

(1895–1963), composer *

Alfred Charles Hobday Alfred Charles Hobday (19 April 1870 in Faversham – 23 February 1942 in Tankerton) was an English viola player who made his career in England. He was the elder brother of the double-bass player Claude Hobday.Mr. Claude Hobday", ''The Times'', ...

(1870–1942) *

Manfred Honeck Manfred Honeck (born 17 September 1958, in Nenzing) is an Austrian conductor. He is currently the music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Early life Honeck was born in Nenzing, Austria, near the border with Switzerland and Liechten ...

(b. 1958), conductor *

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (March 1, 1954 – July 3, 2006) was an American mezzo-soprano. She was noted for her performances of both Baroque era and contemporary works. Her career path to becoming a singer was unconventional – formerly a pro ...

(1954–2006), mezzo-soprano * (b. 1939)

I

Nobuko Imai , is a Japanese classical violist with an extensive career as soloist and chamber musician. Since 1988 she has played a 1690 Andrea Guarneri instrument. Biography Imai began her musical training at the age of six. She began studying at Tokyo's ...

(b. 1943) * Yuko Inoue

J

Hanoch Jacoby Hanoch (Heinrich) Jacoby (March 2, 1909 – 13 December 1990) was an Israelis, Israeli composer and viola player. Biography Jacoby was born in 1909 in Königsberg, Germany, where he learned to play the viola. From 1927 until 1930 he studied in t ...

(1909–1990), composer * Baudime Jam (b. 1972), composer * Leroy Jenkins (1932–2007) *

Raymond Jeremy Raymond Jeremy, FRAM, (1890-1969) was a British violist, known for his quartet playing, particularly the first performances of Edward Elgar's String Quartet (Elgar), String Quartet and Piano Quintet (Elgar), Piano Quintet. He was professor of viol ...

(1890–1969) * Otto Joachim (1910–2010), composer * Matthew Jones (b. 1974), violinist

K

* Jiří Kabeš (b. 1946), singer, songwriter *

Thomas Kakuska Thomas Kakuska (born Vienna; 25 August 1940 – 4 July 2005) was an Austrian viola player, best known as the violist of the Alban Berg Quartett from 1981 until his death in Vienna in 2005. Kakuska was a professor at the University of Music an ...

(1940–2005) *

Jan Karlin Jan Karlin (born 1954) is an American Viola, violist, author, arts administrator and record producer, who has won two Grammy Awards. She is the Founding Executive Director of Southwest Chamber Music and has administered many national and internation ...

(b. 1954), producer, administrator *

Jurgis Karnavičius Jurgis Karnavičius (born 1957, in Vilnius) is a Lithuanian pianist. Karnavičius comes from a renowned family of musicians: his grandfather, Jurgis Karnavičius (1884–1941), was a composer, and his father, also named Jurgis (1912–2001), was ...

(1884–1941), composer *

Gilad Karni Gilad Karni ( he, גלעד קרני) is an Israeli violist who has played in the New York Philharmonic and is currently principal viola in the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich as well as a soloist and player in chamber ensembles. A founder member of the ...

Kim Kashkashian Kim Kashkashian (born August 31, 1952) is an American violist. She is recognized as one of the world's top violists. She has spent her career in the US and Europe and collaborated with many major contemporary composers. In 2013 she won a Grammy A ...

(b. 1952) * Milton Katims (1909–2006), conductor *

Martha Strongin Katz Martha Strongin Katz is a violist and member of the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) in Boston, Massachusetts, where she teaches viola and chamber music. She was a founding member of the Cleveland Quartet, along with her form ...

(b. 1942) *

Hugo Kauder Hugo Kauder (9 June 188822 July 1972) was an Austrian-Jewish composer, pedagogue, and music theorist. He defied the atonal trend of his generation with his uniquely harmonic, contrapuntal style. His legacy of over 300 works, many yet to be publish ...

(1888–1972), composer, violinist *

Nigel Keay Nigel Keay (born 1955) is a New Zealand composer. He has been a freelance musician since 1983 working as a composer, violist, and violin teacher. Nigel Keay has held the following composer residencies: Mozart Fellowship, University of Otago 1986 ...

(b. 1955), composer *

Nigel Kennedy Nigel Kennedy (born 28 December 1956) is an English violinist and violist. His early career was primarily spent performing classical music, and he has since expanded into jazz, klezmer, and other music genres. Early life and background Kenn ...

(b. 1956), violinist *

Louise Lincoln Kerr Louise Lincoln Kerr (April 24, 1892 – December 10, 1977) was an American musician, composer, and philanthropist from Cleveland, Ohio. She wrote over 100 music compositions including fifteen symphonic tone poems, twenty works for chamber o ...

(1892–1977), composer *

Isabelle van Keulen Isabelle van Keulen (born 16 December 1966) is a Dutch violinist and violist, performing principally as a chamber musician but also as a concert violist. She founded the Isos Quartet in 1995. For more than 20 years, she collaborated with the pia ...

(b. 1966), violinist *

Volker David Kirchner Volker David Kirchner (25 June 1942 – 4 February 2020) was a German composer and violist. After studies of violin and composition at the Peter Cornelius Conservatory, the Hochschule für Musik Köln and the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, he w ...

(1942–2020), composer *

Dmitri Klebanov Dmytro Lvovych Klebanov ( ua, Дмитрo Львович Клебанiв; russian: Дми́трий Льво́вич Клеба́нов; – 6 June 1987) was a Soviet-era Ukrainian composer. He studied at the Kharkov Music and Drama Institute ...

(1907–1987) *

Paul Klengel Paul Klengel (13 May 1854 – 24 April 1935) was a German violinist, violist, pianist, conductor, composer, editor and arranger. He was the brother of cellist Julius Klengel. Biography Klengel was born and died in Leipzig, where he studied at t ...

(1854–1935), violinist, pianist *

Garth Knox Garth Knox (born 8 October 1956 in Dublin, Ireland) is a violist and composer who specializes in contemporary classical music and new music. Biography Knox was the youngest of four siblings, and although he was born in Ireland, he was raised in S ...

(b. 1956) *

Ulrich Koch Ulrich Koch (14 March 1921 – 7 June 1996) was a German Viola, violist. Life Born in Braunschweig, Koch received violin lessons from Ion Voicu in Berlin. In 1945 he worked with the orchestra of the Staatstheater Braunschweig, from 1949 in the S ...

(1921–1996) *

Vesko Kountchev Vesko Kountchev (born Vesselin Valentinov Kountchev ( bg, Веселин Валентинов Кунчев ) on January 17, 1974 in Sofia, Bulgaria) is a musician. Early life Vesko Kountchev (Веско Кунчев) was born in Sofia, Bulgari ...

(b. 1974) * František Kočvara (1730–1791), composer *

Katalin Kokas Katalin Kokas (born 22 November 1978 in Pécs) is a Hungarian violinist and violist. Kokas has performed with orchestras including the Israel Chamber Orchestra, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra and Taiwan Philharmonic. She has studied at the Conserva ...

(b. 1978), violinist * Johann Král (1823–1912), also played viola d'amore *

Tosca Kramer Tosca Berger Kramer (June 17, 1903 – December 27, 1976) was a New Zealand-born United States, American violinist and viola, violist. Kramer, along with her parents, was instrumental in bringing classical music performance and instruction to th ...

(1903–1976) *

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...

(b. 1971) * Emil Kreuz (1867–1932) *

Milan Křížek Milan Křížek (; 9 March 1926 – 15 February 2018) was a Czech composer, music teacher and viola player. Life After graduating from the secondary grammar school in Tábor (1937–1945), he studied musicology, music education and history a ...

(1926–2018), composer *

Boris Kroyt Boris Kroyt (3 June 1897 – 15 November 1969) was a classical violinist and violist. He was the violist of the Budapest String Quartet from 1936 until the ensemble disbanded in 1967. Kroyt was born to a Jewish-Ukrainian family in Odessa, but sp ...

(1897–1969) *

Theodore Kuchar Theodore Kuchar (born May 31, 1963) is an American and Ukrainian conductor of classical music and a violist. Biography Kuchar was born in 1963 in New York City.Ferdinand Küchler (1867–1937), violinist, composer * Michael Kugel (b. 1946) *

Sigiswald Kuijken Sigiswald Kuijken (; born 16 February 1944) is a Belgian violinist, violist, and conductor known for playing on period and original instruments. Biography Kuijken was born in Dilbeek, near Brussels. He was a member of the Alarius Ensemble of ...

(b. 1944), violinist, conductor

L

Michelle LaCourse Michelle LaCourse is a viola player and string department chair on the faculty of the Boston University College of Fine Arts. Education LaCourse began her musical studies in the Traverse City (Michigan) School System. She has studied with David Hol ...

Théophile Laforge Théophile Édouard Laforge (6 March 1863 in Paris – 31 October 1918 in Paris) was a French violist and first professor of viola at the Conservatoire de Paris. Laforge studied violin at the Conservatoire de Paris with Eugène Sauzay and was a ...

(1863–1918) *

Édouard Lalo Édouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo (27 January 182322 April 1892) was a French composer. His most celebrated piece is the ''Symphonie espagnole'', a five-movement concerto for violin and orchestra, which remains a popular work in the standard reper ...

(1823–1892), composer *

Anne Lanzilotti Leilehua Lanzilotti, in full Anne Victoria Leilehua Lanzilotti, bynames Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti and Anne Lanzilotti, (born November 5, 1983, Philadelphia, PA), is a Kanaka Maoli composer, sound artist, and scholar of contemporary classical musi ...

(b. 1983), composer *

Jaime Laredo Jaime Laredo (born June 7, 1941) is a violinist and conductor. He was the conductor and Music Director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, and he began his musical career when he was five years old. Laredo was born in Cochabamba, Bolivia. In 1948 ...

(b. 1941), violinist *

Victor Legley Victor Legley (18 June 1915 in Hazebrouck – 28 November 1994 in Ostend) was a Belgian violist and composer of classical music, of French birth. He first studied in Ypres with Lionel Blomme (1897–1984). In 1935 he matriculated at the Ro ...

(1915–1994), composer *

Pierre Lénert Pierre Lénert (born in 1966) is a French viola, violist. An international concertist, he is first solo violist of the Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Paris. Biography Pierre Lénert regularly performs in large concert halls: the Queen Elizabe ...

(b. 1966) * Harold Levin (b. 1956) * Avri Levitan (b. 1973) *

Jodi Levitz Jodi Levitz is an American viola List of violists, player and academic. She has performed throughout Europe, South America, the US, and the Far East as a solo violist and has recorded works for the viola on several record labels including Erato ...

Teng Li Teng Li (born in Nanjing, China) is a Chinese-Canadian viola, violist. She is currently the principal violist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. From 2004 to 2018, she was the principal violist of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. She is also the Art ...

Ingvar Lidholm Ingvar Natanael Lidholm (24 February 1921 – 17 October 2017) was a Swedish composer. Early years: 1921–1940 Ingvar Lidholm was born in Jönköping. The actual family home was in Nässjö, some 40 kilometers to the southeast. Neither of his pa ...

(1921–2017), composer * Samuel Lifschey (1889–1961) *

Lim Soon Lee Lim Soon Lee (; born 3 August 1957) is a Singaporean conductor and violist. Education Soon Lee began his piano and violin training at a young age, under the tutelage of Goh Soon Tioe, Tan Kah Chin, Tan Kian Seng, Moses Wang, and Vivien Goh. In ...

(b. 1957), conductor *

Alfred Lipka Alfred Lipka (1931 – 12 July 2010) was a German violist. Life Born in Schreckenstein near Aussig, Lipka studied violin and viola in Erfurt and at the conservatories of the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar and the University of Mus ...

(1931–2010) *

Ernest Llewellyn Ernest Victor Llewellyn CBE (21 June 191512 July 1982) was an Australian violinist, concertmaster, violist, conductor and musical administrator. He was the founding director of the Canberra School of Music and is commemorated by Llewellyn Hall, t ...

(1915–1982), violinist, conductor *

Lloyd Loar Lloyd Allayre Loar (1886–1943) was an American musician, instrument designer and sound engineer. He is best known for his design work with the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. Ltd. in the early 20th century, including the F-5 model mandolin an ...

instrument designer, composer, played viola alta *

James Lockyer James Lockyer may refer to: * James Lockyer (activist), Canadian lawyer and social justice activist * James Lockyer (architect) James Lockyer (1796 – 23 May 1875), sometimes styled as John Lockyer, was an English architect and surveyor, based in ...

(1883–1962) * James Lowe (b. 1976), conductor *

Pál Lukács Pál Lukács ( hu, Lukács Pál; 27 April 1919 in – 22 May 1981) was a Hungarian people, Hungarian viola virtuoso, concert and recording artist, and music educator. Lukács studied voice, and also violin with Imre Waldbauer at the Franz Liszt ...

(1919–1981)

M

Jef Maes Jef "Joseph" Maes (5 April 1905 in Antwerp – 30 June 1996 in Antwerp) was a Belgian composer and violist. Encouraged by his friend, André Cluytens, he completed his study at the Flemish conservatory in Antwerp. He studied viola with Napoleon ...

(1905–1996), composer * Virginia Majewski (1907–1995) * Sergey Malov (b. 1983), violinist *

Mat Maneri Mat Maneri (born October 4, 1969) is an American composer, violin, and viola player. He is the son of the saxophonist Joe Maneri and Sonja Maneri. Career Maneri has recorded with Cecil Taylor, Guerino Mazzola, Matthew Shipp, Joe Morris, Ger ...

(b. 1969), composer, violinist *

Michael Mann Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer of film and television who is best known for his distinctive style of crime drama. His most acclaimed works include the films ''Thief'' (1981), ' ...

(1919–1977), violinist * Jethro Marks * Carlo Martelli (b. 1935), composer *

Tatjana Masurenko Tatjana Masurenko (born 21 January 1965) is a German violist of Russian descent. Life Masurenko was born to a Russian family of scientists and jazz musicians. Born in Dushanbe, Tadjikistan, she grew up in Saint Petersburg, where she also star ...

(b. 1965) *

Uri Mayer Uri Mayer (born August 4, 1946, in Târgu Mureș, Romania) is Romanian-born Canadian violist and conductor. Mayer moved to Israel at a young age, and studied at the Conservatory of Music of Tel-Aviv and the University of Tel-Aviv. His conducting ...

(b. 1946), conductor *

Eduard Melkus Eduard Melkus (born 1 September 1928 in Baden bei Wien) is an Austrian violinist and violist.''International Who's Who in Classical Music 2003'' Following the Second World War, Melkus dedicated himself to the exploration of historically informed ...

(b. 1928), violinist *

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

(1809–1847), composer *

Vladimir Mendelssohn Vladimir Mendelssohn (29 November 1949 – 13 August 2021) was a Romanian composer, violist, and professor. He had served as Director of the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival since August 2005. Biography Mendelssohn was born into a family of musician ...

(1949–2021), composer *

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to the v ...

(1916–1999), violinist * John Metcalfe (b. 1964) *

Michel Michalakakos Michel Michalakakos (born in 1954) is a French contemporary violist. Biography Born in Athens, Michalakakos began to study viola at the age of thirteen with his father, Christos Michalakakos, and then entered the Conservatoire de Paris in Colett ...

(b. 1954) *

Miroslav Miletić Miroslav Miletić (; (22 August 1925 – 3 January 2018) was a Croatian composer and a violin and viola player and teacher. Education Born in Sisak, Croatia, Miletić graduated violin from the Zagreb Academy of Music in 1953, in the class of Stje ...

(1925–2018), composer *

Shlomo Mintz Shlomo Mintz (Hebrew: שלמה מינץ) (born 30 October 1957) is an Israeli violin virtuoso, violinist and conductor. He regularly appears with orchestras and conductors on the international scene and is heard in recitals and chamber music conc ...

(b. 1957), violinist *

Alexander Mishnaevski Alexander Mishnaevski is a Russian violist. Early life Born in Moscow, Mishnaevski began studying the violin at age six at the renowned Central Music School of Moscow Tchaikovski Conservatory. Mishnaevski emigrated to the United States in 1973 ...

Roberto Molinelli Roberto Molinelli (born 1963, Ancona) is an Italian composer, conductor and violist. He has graduated with honors and won prizes in national and international competitions. His CD on Carl Reinecke's chamber music was awarded with "CD of the Mon ...

(b. 1963), composer, conductor *

Nils Mönkemeyer Nils Mönkemeyer (born 1978) is a German violist and academic teacher. He has recorded several CDs, of viola literature and arrangements for the viola, making it a respected solo instrument. He has been awarded several international prizes. Car ...

(b. 1978) *

Pierre Monteux Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in ...

(1875–1964), conductor * Arie Van de Moortel (1918–1976), composer *

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

(1756–1791), composer * Janee Munroe (1923–2006) * Henry Myerscough (1927–2007)

N

* Philipp Naegele (1928–2011), violinist *

Naruhito, Emperor of Japan is the current Emperor of Japan. He acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on 1 May 2019, beginning the Reiwa era, following the abdication of his father, Akihito. He is the 126th monarch according to Japan's traditional order of succession. ...

(b. 1960) *

Oskar Nedbal Oskar Nedbal (26 March 1874 – 24 December 1930) was a Czech violist, composer, and conductor of classical music. Early life Nedbal was born in Tábor, in southern Bohemia. He studied the violin at the Prague Conservatory under Antonín Benne ...

(1874–1930), composer *

Paul Neubauer Paul Neubauer (born in Encino, California, in 1962) is an American violist. Neubauer was a student of Paul Doktor, Alan de Veritch and William Primrose. In August 1980, aged 17, he won the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and Workshop ...

(b. 1962) *

Václav Neumann Václav Neumann (29 October 1920 – 2 September 1995) was a Czech conductor, violinist, violist, and opera director. Life and career Neumann was born in Prague, where he studied at the Prague Conservatory with Josef Micka (violin), and Pav ...

(1920–1995), conductor *

Maria Newman Maria Louise Newman (born January 18, 1962) is an American composer of classical music, violinist and pianist. She is the youngest child of Alfred Newman, a major Hollywood film composer. Maria holds the Louis and Annette Kaufman Composit ...

(b. 1962), violinist, composer *

Casimir Ney Louis-Casimir Escoffier, known primarily as Casimir Ney or L. Casimir-Ney (24 February 1801 – 3 February 1877) was a French composer and one of the foremost violists of the 19th century. History Escoffier/Ney was born in Paris. During the mid-1 ...

(1801–1877) *

Nokuthula Ngwenyama Nokuthula Ngwenyama (born June 16, 1976) is an American solo viola, violist and composer of Northern Ndebele language, Ndebele and Japanese people, Japanese descent. She is a recording artist under EDI Records, and has taught at the Jacobs School ...

(b. 1976)

O

Heiichiro Ohyama is a Japanese conductor and violist. Biography He has a long-established reputation as a remarkable conductor and one of the nation’s most renowned violists. In addition to his post as Music Director and Conductor of the Santa Barbara Cham ...

(b. 1947) *

David Oistrakh David Fyodorovich Oistrakh (; – 24 October 1974), was a Soviet classical violinist, violist and conductor. Oistrakh collaborated with major orchestras and musicians from many parts of the world and was the dedicatee of numerous violin w ...

(1908–1974), violinist *

Raphaël Oleg Raphaël Oleg (born 8 September 1959) is a French violinist, violist and conductor. Biography Born in Paris, Raphaël Oleg is the son of composer Alexandre Oleg. He began playing the violin at the age of seven with Hélène Arnitz, then, at the ...

(b. 1959), violinist *

Martin Outram Martin Outram is an English viola soloist and violist of the Maggini Quartet. Biography Martin Outram studied at Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge University and later at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Outram is the violist of the Maggini ...

P

Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices f ...

(1782–1840), composer, violinist * Johannes Palaschko (1877–1932), violinist, composer *

Úna Palliser Úna Palliser is an Irish born, London-based violinist, violist, singer and multi-instrumentalist who as well as being classically trained, is recognised for her proficiency in many musical genres, including rock, jazz, Balkan and Folk music of ...

, vocalist, violinist *

Ian Parrott Ian Parrott (5 March 1916 – 4 September 2012) was a prolific Anglo-Welsh composer and writer on music. His distinctions included the first prize of the Royal Philharmonic Society for his symphonic poem ''Luxor'', and commissions by the BBC a ...

(1916–2012), composer *

Harry Partch Harry Partch (June 24, 1901 – September 3, 1974) was an American composer, music theorist, and creator of unique musical instruments. He composed using scales of unequal intervals in just intonation, and was one of the first 20th-century com ...

(1901–1974), composer *

Ödön Pártos Ödön Pártos Pártos_Ödön,__he.html" ;"title="English language">English: Oedoen Partos, hu">Pártos Ödön, he">עֵדֶן פרטוש (Eden Partosh)(October 1, 1907 in Budapest – July 6, 1977 in Tel Aviv) was a Hungarian-Israeli violist"> ...

(1907–1977), composer *

Joseph de Pasquale Joseph de Pasquale (October 14, 1919 – June 22, 2015) was an American violist. Career Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Joseph de Pasquale was a student of Louis Bailly, Max Aronoff and William Primrose at the Curtis Institute of Music. He ...

(1919–2015) *

Bruno Pasquier Bruno Pasquier (born 10 December 1943 in Neuilly-sur-Seine), is a French violist, the son of Pierre Pasquier, also a violist. Biography After a First Prize at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1961, Pasquier won the ARD International Music Compe ...

(b. 1943) *

Pemi Paull Pemi Paull is a Canadian viola soloist, music educator, and chamber musician, known for a wide range of musical activities, Career Paull founded and is artistic director of Warhol Dervish, an original and unorthodox chamber music collective based ...

(b. 1975) * Pierre Pasquier (1902–1986) * Clara Petrozzi (b. 1965), violinist, composer *

Allan Pettersson Gustaf Allan Pettersson (19 September 1911 – 20 June 1980) was a Swedish composer and violist. He is considered one of the 20th century's most important Swedish composers, he was described as one of the last great symphonists, ...

(1911–1980), composer *

Cynthia Phelps Cynthia Phelps (born 1961 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California) is an American violist whose versatile career involves work as a chamber musician, solo artist, and orchestral musician. Phelps is currently the Principal Violist of the New York Ph ...

(b. 1961) *

Robert Pikler Robert Pikler OBE (24 January 190916 January 1984) was a Hungarian-Australian violinist, violist and teacher. Biography Pikler received his musical training in his native Budapest, first under Eugene Ormandy, then at the Franz Liszt Academy of ...

(1909–1984), violinist *

Ashan Pillai Ashan Pillai ( born 1 December 1969 in Colombo, Sri Lanka) is a British violist. He was educated as a music and academic scholar at Merchant Taylors School, London and then at the Royal Academy of Music, London, the University of Southern Calif ...

(b. 1969) * Enrico Polo (1868–1953), violinist *

Jocelyn Pook Jocelyn Pook (, rhyming with "book"; born 14 February 1960) is an English composer and viola player. She is known for her scores for many films, including ''Eyes Wide Shut'', ''The Merchant of Venice'' and '' The Wife''. Education Pook gradua ...

(b. 1960), composer *

Diemut Poppen Diemut Poppen (born in Münster, Germany) is a German musician. She began violin lessons at the age of seven, but changed to the viola having been exposed to it through playing chamber music. She has been taught by leading players such as Kim K ...

(b. 1960) * Rita Porfiris (b. 1969) *

Ari Poutiainen Ari Poutiainen (born 1972 in Kaarlela, Finland) is a Finnish contemporary jazz violinist, violist, composer, and researcher. He is famous for employing a rare, hybrid 5-string viola (both acoustic and electric) beside violin, his main Musical inst ...

(b. 1972) *

Lawrence Power Lawrence Power is a British violist, born 1977, noted both for solo performances and for chamber music with the Nash Ensemble and Leopold String Trio. Career Power started out as a violist (rather than beginning studies on the violin and switc ...

(b. 1977) * William Presser (1916–2004), composer, violinist *

Milton Preves Milton Preves (June 18, 1909 in Cleveland, Ohio – June 11, 2000 in Glenview, Illinois) was a violist, conductor and pedagogue. He was a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 52 years, of which 47 years were as principal violist. Preves ...

(1909–2000) *

Joseph Primavera Joseph Primavera (April 13, 1926 – October 14, 2006) was an American violist and conductor. He was the youngest violist ever appointed to lead the viola section of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Until he retired in 2005, Primavera had served as t ...

(1926–2006), conductor *

William Primrose William Primrose CBE (23 August 19041 May 1982) was a Scottish violist and teacher. He performed with the London String Quartet from 1930 to 1935. He then joined the NBC Symphony Orchestra where he formed the Primrose Quartet. He performed in ...

(1904–1982)

Q

Karl Traugott Queisser Karl Traugott Queisser (11 January 1800, Döben, Electorate of Saxony – 12 June 1846, Leipzig) played trombone and viola in Germany as a member of the Gewandhaus Orchestra under Felix Mendelssohn. He was Principal Viola of the Gewandhaus Orch ...

(1800–1846)

R

Julian Rachlin Julian Rachlin (born 8 December 1974) is a Lithuanian-born violinist, violist and conductor. Background and early life Born in Vilnius, he emigrated in 1978 with his musician parents to Austria. In 1983, he entered the Konservatorium Wien and st ...

(b. 1974), violinist *

Mary Ramsey Mary Ramsey (born December 24, 1963) is a member of folk rock duo John & Mary and lead singer and violinist for the American alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs. Ramsey has also worked with other well-known artists such as Jackson Browne, Goo Go ...

(b. 1963), violinist, singer, songwriter * Wilhelm Ramsøe (1837–1895), composer, conductor, violinist * Émile Pierre Ratez (1851–1934), composer *

Mary Ruth Ray Mary Ruth Ray (1956–2013) was an internationally known classical musician who received critical acclaim throughout the United States, Europe and Russia. Career Ray was a faculty member at Brandeis University where she taught viola and chamber ...

(1956–2013) *

Adolf Rebner Adolf Franklin Rebner (also Adolph Rebner) (21 November 1876 in Vienna – 19 June 1967 in Baden-Baden) was an Austrian violinist and violist. Rebner was a student of Jakob Grün at the Vienna Conservatory, graduating there with first prize in 1 ...

(1876–1967) *

Ottorino Respighi Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions r ...

(1879–1936), composer *

Sophia Reuter Sophia Reuter, born in 1971, in Dresden, Germany, comes from a family with a long musical history. Her father was the late Rolf Reuter, a conductor, and her grandfather, the late Fritz Reuter (composer), Fritz Reuter, was a composer. Sophia is a v ...

(b. 1971), violinist * Allard de Ridder (1887–1966), conductor, composer *

Frederick Riddle Frederick Craig Riddle OBE (20 April 19125 February 1995) was a British violist. He was considered to be in the line from Lionel Tertis and William Primrose, through to the violists of today such as Lawrence Power. Early life and career Frederic ...

(1912–1995) *

Timothy Ridout Timothy Ridout (born 1995) is a British violist and 1st Prizewinner of the prestigious Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition. Biography Ridout studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Martin Outram and graduated in 2016 with ...

(b. 1995) * Joaquín Riquelme García (b. 1983) * Karen Ritscher *

Hermann Ritter Hermann Ritter (16 September 1849 in Wismar – 25 January 1926 in Würzburg) was a German viola player, composer and music historian. Biography Hermann Ritter studied violin at the Neue Akademie für Musik in Berlin from 1865 to 1870. His outs ...

(1849–1926) *

Carol Rodland Carol Rodland is an American viola player who studied with Karen Tuttle at the Juilliard School. She was Tuttle's teaching assistant for several years before taking a position as a viola teacher at the New England Conservatory. In February 2008, i ...

Jean Rogister Jean François Toussaint Rogister (25 October 1879 in Liège – 20 March 1964 in Liège) was a Belgian virtuoso violist, teacher and composer. Life and career Jean Rogister came from a family of musicians; his father was a flautist and his brot ...

(1879–1964), composer *

Hartmut Rohde Hartmut Rohde (born 28 April 1966 in Hildesheim) is a German violist. He teaches at the Berlin University of the Arts The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Ge ...

(b. 1966) *

Alessandro Rolla Alessandro Rolla (; 23 April 175714 September 1841) was an Italian viola and violin virtuoso, composer, conductor and teacher. His son, Antonio Rolla, was also a violin virtuoso and composer. His fame now rests mainly as "teacher of the great P ...

(1757–1841), composer *

Antonio Rolla Giuseppe Antonio Rolla (18 April 1798, in Parma – 19 March 1837, in Dresden) was an Italian violin and viola virtuoso and composer. Antonio Rolla studied violin with his father, composer Alessandro Rolla. In 1803 the family is moved to Milan ...

(1798–1837), violinist, composer *

Paul Rolland Paul Rolland, né Pali Reisman (November 21, 1911, Budapest – November 9, 1978, Illinois),Fanelli, Michael P. (2001) ''Paul Rolland: His teaching career and contributions to string pedagogy and education.'' (Doctoral Dissertation) Retrieved fro ...

(1911–1978) *

Max Rostal Max Rostal (7 July 1905 – 6 August 1991) was a violinist and a viola player. He was Austrian-born, but later took British citizenship. Biography Max Rostal was born in Cieszyn to a Jewish merchant family. As a child prodigy, he started studyin ...

(1905–1991), violinist *

Simon Rowland-Jones Simon Rowland-Jones (born 1950) is a violist, composer, and music editor. He is best known for his arrangement of the Bach Cello Suites for Viola, which is widely praised as one of the best scholarly editions of the work for viola. He has taught ...

(b. 1950) *

Vincent Royer Vincent Royer (born 22 January 1961) is a French violist and composer. He gives concerts worldwide as a soloist and chamber musician. He gives master classes, is a member of various ensembles and teaches as professor for chamber music at the ...

(b. 1961) *

Miklós Rózsa Miklós Rózsa (; April 18, 1907 – July 27, 1995) was a Hungarian-American composer trained in Germany (1925–1931) and active in France (1931–1935), the United Kingdom (1935–1940), and the United States (1940–1995), with extensi ...

(1907–1995), composer * Thomas Ryan (1827–1903) *

Maxim Rysanov Maxim Rysanov (born 1978) is a Ukrainian violist and conductor. Rysanov was born in Kramatorsk, and studied at the Central Special Music School in Moscow and later at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. In 2000 he won the Gold M ...

(b. 1978)

S

* Pauline Sachse (b. 1980) *

Luigi Sagrati Luigi Sagrati (Rome, 10 November 1921 – Rome 20 March 2008) was an Italian violist. He began studying the violin very young, and graduated cum laude from the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. In the immediate postwar period he began an intens ...

(1921–2008) *

Philip Sainton Philip Prosper Sainton (10 November 1891 – 2 September 1967) was a British–French composer, conductor, and violist. Biography He was born in Arques-la-Bataille, in Seine-Maritime, France, grandson to violinist Prosper Sainton and co ...

(1891–1967), composer, conductor *

Matthias Sannemüller Matthias Sannemüller (born 2 September 1951) is a German violist. Life Born in Leipzig, Sannemüller was born in 1951 as son of the concertmaster Horst Sannemüller and the opera singer Philine Fischer. In his youth he learned piano and violin ...

(b. 1951) *

Stephanie Sant'Ambrogio Stephanie Sant'Ambrogio (born July 15, 1960) is an American violinist. She is assistant professor of violin and viola at the University of Nevada, Reno and served as concertmaster of the San Antonio Symphony from 1994 until 2007, during which time s ...

(b. 1960), violinist * Guido Santórsola (1904–1994), composer *

Hermann Scherchen Hermann Scherchen (21 June 1891 – 12 June 1966) was a German conductor. Life Scherchen was born in Berlin. Originally a violist, he played among the violas of the Bluthner Orchestra of Berlin while still in his teens. He conducted in Riga ...

(1891–1966), conductor *

Peter Schidlof Peter Schidlof (born Hans Schidlof; 9 July 1922 – 16 August 1987) was an Austrian-British violist and co-founder of the Amadeus Quartet. Life and career Born in Göllersdorf near Vienna, Schidlof fled Austria for England following the Nazi ...

(1922–1987) *

Ervin Schiffer Ervin Schiffer (born 1932, Balassagyarmat, Hungary, died July 2014, Antwerp, Belgium) was a Hungarian born Viola, violist and pedagogue. He has played as a part of the Haydn Quartet and the Tahor Quartet. He also played viola in the Dekany Quartet, ...

(1932–2014) *

Hanning Schröder Hanning Schröder (born Hans Schröder 4 July 1896 – 16 October 1987) was a German composer and violist. From 1927, he worked in Berlin as a violist in orchestras for opera, radio and film, and in the Havemann String Quartet of his teacher Gu ...

(1896–1987), composer *

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

(1797–1828), composer * Joseph Schubert (1754–1837), composer, violinist * Rudolf Schwarz (1905–1994), conductor *

Albert Seitz Albert Seitz (24 June 1872 – 23 September 1937) was a French composer and viola player. Born in Besançon, Seitz was a violist with the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire The Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conse ...

(1872–1937), composer *

Konstantin Sellheim Konstantin Sellheim (born 1978) is a German classical violist, who has appeared internationally with a focus on chamber music. He is a violist of the Münchner Philharmoniker, and lecturer of viola at the Universität der Künste Berlin. Career ...

(b. 1978) *

Tibor Serly Tibor Serly (; Losonc, Kingdom of Hungary, 25 November 1901 – London, 8 October 1978) was a Hungarian violist, violinist, and composer. Serly was the son of Lajos Serly, a pupil of Franz Liszt and a composer of songs and operettas in the ...

(1901–1978), composer *

William Shield William Shield (5 March 1748 – 25 January 1829) was an English composer, violinist and viola, violist. His music earned the respect of Haydn and Beethoven. Life and musical career Shield was born in Swalwell near Gateshead, County Durham, th ...

(1748–1829) *

Bernard Shore Bernard Shore (17 March 1896 – 2 April 1985) was an English viola player and author. Early life Shore studied at the Royal College of Music from 1912, with Sir Walter Alcock (organ) and Thomas Dunhill (composition), but his time there was inte ...

(1896–1985) * Gilbert Shufflebotham (1907–1978), violinist *

Oscar Shumsky Oscar Shumsky (March 23, 1917 in Philadelphia – July 24, 2000 in Rye, New York) was an American violinist and conductor born to Russian-Jewish parents. Oscar Shumsky married Louise Sophia Carboni on October 4, 1939. Together they had two ...

(1917–2000), violinist, conductor *

Paul Silverthorne Paul Silverthorne (born 1951 in Cheshire, England) is an English viola soloist and was principal violist of the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta. Biography Silverthorne studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Clarence Myer ...

(b. 1951) * Robert Siohan (1894–1985), composer, conductor *

Nadia Sirota Nadia Sirota (born in New York) is an American viola player. Her father is Robert Sirota, a composer and conductor. Life and career Sirota is best known for her singular sound and expressive execution, coaxing solo works from the likes of Nic ...

Hans Sitt Hans Sitt (born Jan Hanuš Sitt on 21 September 1850, Prague – 10 March 1922, Leipzig), was a Bohemian violinist, violist, teacher, and composer. During his lifetime, he was regarded as one of the foremost teachers of violin. Most of the orchest ...

(1850–1922) *

Scott Slapin Scott Slapin (born 1974) is an American composer and violist. Career Slapin has written more than sixty viola-centric chamber works and was commissioned to write the required piece for the 2008 Primrose International Viola Competition. He served ...

(b. 1974), composer *

Kay Slocum Kay Brainerd Slocum is an American musician and historian who has published books in music and medieval history. Slocum is currently the Gerhold Professor of History and Humanities at Capital University, Ohio, prior to which she taught music histor ...

Peter Slowik Peter Slowik (born 1957) is an American classical musician and academic working as a professor of viola and head of the string department at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Early life and education Slowik was born in Oak Park, Illinois. He earne ...

(b. 1957) *

Anton Stamitz Anton Thadäus Johann Nepomuk Stamitz (November 1750 – ) was a German composer and violinist. Anton was born during a family visit to Deutschbrod, and baptised there on 27 November 1750. He and his brother Carl received their first violin ...

(1750–c.1800), composer *

Carl Stamitz Carl Philipp Stamitz ( cs, Karel Stamic; baptized 8 May 17459 November 1801) was a German composer of partial Czech ancestry. He was the most prominent representative of the second generation of the Mannheim School. He was the eldest son of Joh ...

(1745–1801), composer *

Johann Stamitz Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz (Czech: Jan Václav Antonín Stamic; 18 June 1717 – 27 March 1757) was a Bohemian composer and violinist. His two surviving sons, Carl and Anton Stamitz, were composers of the Mannheim school, of which Johann is ...

(1717–1757), composer * Helen Camille Stanley (b.1930), composer * Jean Stewart (1914–2002) * Scott St. John (b. 1969) *

Simon Streatfeild Simon Nicolas Streatfeild (5 October 1929 – 7 December 2019) was a British-Canadian violist, conductor and teacher. Simon Nicolas Streatfeild was born in Windsor, Berkshire, England in 1929. He studied viola with Frederick Riddle at the ...

(1929–2019), conductor *

Jennifer Stumm Jennifer Stumm is a concert violist, professor of viola at the University of Music and Arts of the City of Vienna and director of the Ilumina Festival in São Paulo. Life Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Stumm studied at the Curtis Institute of ...

* Josef Suk (1929–2011), violinist * Jean Sulem (b. 1959) * Louis Svećenski (1862–1926) * Gusztáv Szerémi (1877–1952), composer

T

* Robert Talbot (1893–1954), conductor, composer, violinist *

Václav Talich Václav Talich (; 28 May 1883, Kroměříž – 16 March 1961, Beroun) was a Czech violinist and later a musical pedagogue. He is remembered today as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, the object of countless reissues of his man ...

(1883–1961), conductor, violinist *

Antoine Tamestit Antoine Tamestit (born 1979) is a French violist. Tamestit studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, and further with Jesse Levine at Yale University, and with Tabea Zimmermann. He won the 2001 Primrose International Viola Competition, the 2003 Yo ...

(b. 1979) * Will Taylor (b. 1968) *

Jan Tausinger Jan Tausinger (1 November 1921 in Piatra Neamţ – 29 July 1980 in Prague) was a Romania-born ethnic Czech (people), Czech Viola, violist, Conducting, conductor and composer.#Vysloužil, Vysloužil (2001), p. 548-549 Biography Tausinger studied co ...

(1921–1980), composer, conductor *

Arve Tellefsen Arve Tellefsen () (born 14 December 1936) is a Norwegian violinist who has worked with conductors such as Mariss Jansons, Arvid Jansons, Herbert Blomstedt, Gary Bertini, Evgeny Svetlanov, Bryden Thomson, Neeme Järvi, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Paavo B ...

, (b. 1936), violinist *

Yuri Temirkanov Yuri Khatuevich Temirkanov (russian: Ю́рий Хату́евич Темирка́нов; kbd, Темыркъан Хьэту и къуэ Юрий; born December 10, 1938) is a Russian conductor of Circassian ( Kabardian) origin. Early life ...

(b. 1938), conductor *

Mela Tenenbaum Mela Tenenbaum, (Ukrainian: Мела Тененбаум) born in Ukraine, is a classical violinist and violist, also playing viola d'amore. She graduated from the Kyiv Conservatory and performed the Kyiv Philharmonic and other orchestras. She in ...

, violinist *

Lionel Tertis Lionel Tertis, CBE (29 December 187622 February 1975) was an English violist. He was one of the first viola players to achieve international fame and a noted teacher. Career Tertis was born in West Hartlepool, the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants ...

(1876–1975) * Xaver Paul Thoma (b. 1953), composer *

Marcus Thompson Marcus Thompson (born 1946) is a violist and viola d'amore player known for his work as a recitalist, orchestral soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and educator. Thompson is a founding member and is currently artistic director of the Bost ...

(b. 1946) *

Katia Tiutiunnik Katia Tiutiunnik (born 19 March 1967 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian composer, scholar and violist. She is of Russian, Ukrainian and Irish descent. Education Katia Tiutiunnik's high school education was completed at Our Lady of Mercy Colle ...

(b. 1967), composer *

Lars Anders Tomter Lars Anders Tomter (born 30 November 1959) is a Norwegian viola player. He plays on a 1590 Gasparo da Salò Gasparo da Salò (20 May 154214 April 1609) is the name given to Gasparo Bertolotti, one of the earliest violin makers and an expert ...

(b. 1959) *

Giuseppe Torelli Giuseppe Torelli (22 April 1658 – 8 February 1709) was an Italian violist, violinist, teacher, and composer of the middle Baroque era. Torelli is most remembered for contributing to the development of the instrumental concerto., especially con ...

(1658–1709), pedagogue, composer *

Sabine Toutain Sabine Toutain (born in 1966) is a contemporary French violist. Biography Training and prizes Sabine Toutain was born in Le Mans in 1966; she began her musical studies there and then entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1982. . In 1984, she ...

(b. 1966) *

Jacqueline Townshend Jacqueline Mary Townshend, (January 15, 1912 – July 2, 1983), was a British pianist, violinist and violist who played with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Consort of Viols. She was a pupil of Lionel Tertis, performing and broadcastin ...

(1912–1983), pianist, violinist *

Walter Trampler Walter Trampler (August 25, 1915 – September 27, 1997) was a German musician and teacher of the viola and viola d'amore. Born in Munich, he was given his first lessons at age six by his violinist father. While still in his youth, he played well e ...

(1915–1997) *

Michael Tree Michael Tree (February 19, 1934 – March 30, 2018), born Michael Applebaum, was an American violist. Biography Tree was born in Newark, New Jersey. His principal studies were with Efrem Zimbalist on violin and viola at the Curtis Institute o ...

(1934–2018) *

Anahit Tsitsikian Anahit Tsitsikian ( hy, Անահիտ Ցիցիկյան; born Leningrad, August 26, 1926; death Yerevan, May 2, 1999) was an Armenian female violinist. She toured around the world through more than 100 cities during the Soviet times; she taught ...

(1926–1999), violinist, musicologist *

Karen Tuttle Karen Tuttle (March 28, 1920 – December 16, 2010) was an American viola teacher, most famous for developing the Karen Tuttle Coordination Technique, which emphasizes being comfortable while playing the instrument. She began performing on violin ...

(1920–2010)

U

* Åke Uddén (1903–1987), composer, conductor *

Alfred Uhl Alfred Uhl (5 June 1909 – 8 June 1992) was an Austrian composer, violist, music teacher and conductor. Biography Uhl was born in Vienna and studied with Franz Schmidt at the Vienna Music Academy, receiving a diploma in composition with hon ...

(1909–1992) * Chrétien Urhan (1790–1845)

V

* Roland Vamos (b. 1930) * Léon van Hout (1864–1945) *

Emanuel Vardi Emanuel Vardi (21 April 1915 – 29 January 2011), an American Viola, violist, was considered to have been one of the great viola players of the 20th century. Early life Emanuel Vardi was born April 21, 1915 in Jerusalem. His mother, Anna Joffa ...

(1915–2011) *

Maxim Vengerov Maxim Alexandrovich Vengerov (russian: Максим Александрович Венгеров, , mɐkˈsʲim ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ vʲɪnˈɡʲerəf; he, מקסים ונגרוב; born 20 August 1974) is a Russian-born Israeli violinist, v ...

(b. 1974), violinist * Robert Vernon (b. 1949) *

Maurice Vieux Maurice Edgard Vieux (14 April 1884 in Savy-Berlette near Valenciennes – 28 April 1951 in Paris) was a French violist whose teaching at the Conservatoire de Paris plays a key role in the history of the viola in France. Vieux received his 1st Pr ...

(1884–1951) *

Johann Georg Hermann Voigt Johann Georg Hermann Voigt (14 May 1769 – 24 February 1811) was a German organist, cellist, violist and composer. Life Born in Osterwieck, Voigt was the son of Stadtmusikus' C. C. Voigt from the town of Osterwieck in the northern Harz fore ...

(1769–1811), composer *

Ladislav Vycpálek Ladislav Vycpálek (Vršovice, Prague, 23 February 1882 – Prague, 9 January 1969) was a Czech Republic, Czech composer and Viola, violist. Vycpálek studied composition under Vítězslav Novák. However, he very soon found his own expressive st ...

(1882–1969), composer, violinist

W

Louis van Waefelghem Louis van Waefelghem (13 January 1840, in Bruges – 19 June 1908, in Paris) was a Belgian violinist, violist and one of the greatest viola d'amore players of the 19th century. He also composed several works and made transcriptions for viola and ...

(1840–1908) *

Ernst Wallfisch Ernst Wallfisch (27 May 1920 in Frankfurt am Main – 8 May 1979 in Northampton, Massachusetts) was a prominent viola soloist, recording artist and pedagogue, primarily remembered along with his wife, pianist Lory Wallfisch, as partners of the Wall ...

(1920–1979) *

Geraldine Walther Geraldine Lamboley Walther (born July 22, 1950) is an American violist. From 2005 to May 2020 she was a member of the Takács Quartet. During this time she also taught at the University of Colorado Boulder. She was also the principal violist of ...

(b. 1950) *

Johann Baptist Wanhal Johann Baptist Wanhal (12 May 1739 – 20 August 1813) was a Czech classical music composer. He was born in Nechanice, Bohemia, and died in Vienna. His music was well respected by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert. He was an instrumental perf ...

(1739–1813) *

Harry Waldo Warner Harry Waldo Warner (4 January 1874 - 1 June 1945) was an English viola player and composer, one of the founding members of the London String Quartet and a several times Cobbett Award winner for his chamber music. Early life Born in Northampton ...

(1874–1945), composer *

Melia Watras Melia Watras is an American violist, composer and professor of viola. She is a soloist, chamber musician and recording artist, who has commissioned, premiered and recorded numerous new compositions, and appeared at venues such as Carnegie Hall, We ...

* John Webb (b. 1969), composer *

Hieronymus Weickmann Hieronymus Weickmann (russian: Иероним Андреевич Вейкман; 26 February 1825 in Nuremberg – 26 April 1895 in Nuremberg) was an Imperial Russian viola player, composer and music educator of German descent. Weickmann worked i ...

(1825–1895) *

Justus Weinreich Justus Weinreich (May 24, 1858, Kassel - January 19, 1927, Baden-Baden) was a German composer and musician (violinist and violist). He probably received his first lessons from his father Johann Georg Weinreich, an oboist serving in the Elector's pe ...

(1858–1927), composer * Franz Weiss (1778–1830) *

Henryk Wieniawski Henryk Wieniawski (; 10 July 183531 March 1880) was a Polish virtuoso violinist, composer and pedagogue who is regarded amongst the greatest violinists in history. His younger brother Józef Wieniawski and nephew Adam Tadeusz Wieniawski were al ...

(1835–1880), violinist *

Emanuel Wirth Emanuel Wirth (18 October 18425 January 1923) was a German violinist and violist. Wirth was born in Žlutice (German: Luditz) in western Bohemia. As Joseph Joachim's assistant at the Hochschule für Musik (Berlin), he taught violin and viola. ...

(1842–1923), violinist * Lena Wood (1899–1982) * Mark Wood

X

* Hong-Mei Xiao (b. 1963) *

Pierre-Henri Xuereb Pierre-Henri Xuereb (born 1959) is a French violist, performer on both the viola d'amore and the ''grand'viola''. Biography A student of Serge Collot at the Paris Conservatory, at the age of 16 he received first prize in viola. Following this he ...

(b. 1959)

Y

Eugène Ysaÿe Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (; 16 July 185812 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar". Legend of the Ysaÿe violin Eugène Ysaÿe ...

(1858–1931), violinist

Z

* Bernard Zaslav (1926–2016) * Wen Xiao Zheng (b. 1981) *

Grigori Zhislin Grigori Yefimovich Zhislin (Russian Григорий Ефимович Жислин; 14 May 1945 in Leningrad – 2 May 2017 in Berlin) was a Russian violinist and pedagogue. He studied with Yuri Yankelevich at the Moscow Conservatory. At the age of ...

(1945–2017), violinist *

Lev Zhurbin Lev Zhurbin (born August 18, 1978 in Moscow, Soviet Union) is a composer and violist. Biography Lev Zhurbin immigrated to the United States in the year 1990. He is often credited simply as "Ljova", the diminutive of his formal name. He is the so ...

(b. 1978), composer *

Tabea Zimmermann Tabea Zimmermann (born 8 October 1966) is a German violist. Born in Lahr, she began learning to play the viola at the age of three, and commenced piano studies at age five. At the age of 13, she studied viola with Ulrich Koch at the Conservator ...

(b. 1966) *

Fidelis Zitterbart Fidelis Zitterbart Jr. (April 8, 1845 – August 30, 1915) was an American composer. Life and Works Zitterbart was born in Pittsburgh in 1845. His father, Fidelis Zitterbart Sr. had emigrated from Austria, and was a career violinist and condu ...

(1845–1915), composer *

Đuro Živković Đuro Živković, also rendered as Djuro Zivkovic ( Serbian Cyrillic: Ђуро Живковић; born 1975), is a Serbian-Swedish composer and violinist. He has lived in Stockholm, Sweden, since 2000. Biography Živković was born in Belgrade, wh ...

(b. 1975), composer, violinist * León Zuckert (1904–1992), composer, violinist *

Pinchas Zukerman Pinchas Zukerman ( he, פנחס צוקרמן, born 16 July 1948) is an Israeli-American violinist, violist and conductor. Life and career Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv, to Jewish parents and Holocaust survivors Yehuda and Miriam Lieberman Zuk ...

(b. 1948), violinist {{col-end