This is a list of Wikipedia articles on notable viola 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 (b. 1978) *

Adolfo Alejo Adolfo Alejo (born 1986) is a Mexican violinist, violist and conductor. He was named one of the most creative Mexicans in the world by ''Forbes Magazine'' in 2019. Career An artist under Brilliant Classics and Naxos Labels, Alejo has performe ...

(b. 1986), conductor * Sir Hugh Allen (1869–1946), conductor * Kris Allen (b. 1985) * Vladimir Altshuler (b. 1946), conductor * Ruben Altunyan (1939–2021), composer, conductor * Johann Andreas Amon (1763–1825) *

B. Tommy Andersson Bengt Tommy Andersson (born 26 July 1964 in Borås, Sweden) is a Swedish conductor and composer. Andersson received his training as a conductor at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm, where he worked with Eric Ericson, Péter Eötvös, Brian Pri ...

(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 perf ...

(1927–2017), composer *

Steven Ansell Steven A. Ansell (born February 5, 1954), is an American violist whose versatile career involves work as a chamber musician, solo artist, and orchestral musician. Ansell is currently principal violist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a positio ...

(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 (1916–1978) *

Dino Asciolla The Quartetto Italiano ( en, Italian Quartet) was a string quartet founded in Reggio Emilia in 1945. They made their debut in 1945 in Carpi when all four players were still in their early 20s. They were originally named Nuovo Quartetto Italiano b ...

(1920–1994) * Jean-Marie Auberson (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 Ed Le Brocq, previously known as Ed or Eddie Ayres () (born Emma Ayres, 1967), is a musician, music teacher, radio presenter and writer. He is notable for his work on the Australian ABC Classic radio station, as well as for his numerous charita ...

(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 (1685–1750), composer * Sigismund Bachrich (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 (1885–1953), conductor, composer * Michael Balling (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 (b. 1953) * Cathy Basrak (b. 1977) * Natalie Bauer-Lechner (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 (1770–1827), composer *

Sviatoslav Belonogov Sviatoslav Belonogov (russian: Святослав Белоногов; born 15 September 1965) is a Russian violist who is active in Tenerife, where he is mainly the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife's viola soloist. He is also a viola d'amore player. ...

(b. 1965) * Mitrofan Belyayev (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 Wilhelm Georg Berger (born 4 December 1929, Rupea; died 8 March 1993, Bucharest) was a Romanian composer, musicologist, violist and Conducting, conductor. Biography Berger was born in Rupea, Romania. He learned to play the violin and viola under ...

(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 Harry Berly (December 1905 – March 1937) was a British violist, saxophonist, clarinetist and violinist, who played with a number of British Big Bands in the 1920s and 30s. He also appeared at the Proms and played with the International String Q ...

(1905–1937) *

Lise Berthaud Lise Berthaud (born 1982) is a French violist. Early life She was born in Bourg-en-Bresse in the Ain department in south-east France on the Swiss border, in the Rhône-Alpes region. She grew up in Sainte-Euphémie. Her father is the headmaster o ...

(b. 1982) * Vasily Bessel (1843–1907), music publisher * Roger Best (1936–2013) *

Mikhail Bezverkhny Mikhail Lvovich Bezverkhny (russian: Михаил Львович Безверхний; born 27 July 1947 in Leningrad) is a Soviet and later Russian violinist, violist and composer. Life and career Born in Saint Petersburg in 1947, Bezverkhny comm ...

(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 (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 vo ...

(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, he ...

(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 (b. 1951) * York Bowen (1884–1961), composer, pianist * Máximo Arrates Boza (1859–1936), composer * Frank Bridge (1879–1941), composer * Benjamin Britten (1913–1976), composer * (b. 1942), composer *

Carolyn Waters Broe Carolyn Waters Broe is an American conductor, composer, violist and writer, who founded Four Seasons Orchestra in 1992. Early life Broe was born to the physicist Warren P. Waters and Lois Virginia Lockwood. Carolyn is married to Steve Broe a ...

, 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

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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 * Bartolomeo Campagnoli (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 Alain Celo (born 1960) is a French composer and violist with the . He has written about twenty works, mainly instrumental. He followed a complete cursus of music writing and musical composition at the , with . He was awarded the SACEM Prize, and ...

(b. 1960), composer *

Ladislav Černý Ladislav Černý (13 April 1891 in Plzeň – 13 July 1975 in Dobříš) was a Czech violist and teacher. Biography Černý studied violin at the Prague Conservatory (1906–1912) with Ferdinand Lachner and Jindřich Bastař, and chamber musi ...

(1891–1975) * Eugène Chartier (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 André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation o ...

(1789–1861), composer, conductor * Rebecca Clarke (1886–1979), composer * Caroline Coade * Eric Coates (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 (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 Paul Cropper, MBE, (1913-2006) was a British violist and principal viola of the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra (later named the BBC Philharmonic) from 1947 to 1982. Biography Paul Cropper was born in Wallasey, Cheshire, England, on 12 March 19 ...

(1913–2006) *

Wayne Crouse Wayne Crouse (16 December 1924 - 19 May 2000) was the viola professor emeritus at the University of Oklahoma and principal violist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic from 1982 until his death from cancer at the age of 75. During the war he served in ...

(1924–2000) * John Curro (1932–2019), conductor

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* David Dalton (b. 1934) * Harry Danks (1912–2001) * Steven Dann (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 (b. 1975) * Brett Dean (b. 1961) * Christophe Desjardins (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 (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 Patrizia Di Paolo is an Italian musician and stage director. Performance Patrizia Di Paolo has performed as principal viola in the European Community Chamber orchestra, the Rai Orchestra in Milan, the Toscanini Orchestra in Parma, Bologna City ...

* Roberto Díaz (b. 1960) * Viacheslav Dinerchtein (b. 1976) * Paul Doktor (1919–1989) * Demetrius Constantine Dounis (1886–1954), violinist, pedagogue * Dimitris Dragatakis (1914–2001), composer * Karen Dreyfus *

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 Matthias Durst (18 August 1815 – 2 May 1875) was an Austrian violinist, violist and composer. Biography Born in Vienna, he studied at the Vienna Conservatory with Georg Hellmesberger, Sr. and Joseph Böhm. He was a member of the Vienna Burgthea ...

(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 (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

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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 Ernest Jozef Leo van der Eyken (23 July 1913 in Antwerp – 6 February 2010 in Brussels) was a Belgian composer, conductor and violist. Van der Eyken received his first musical training at the age of five at the Music Academy in Sint-Truiden. At ...

(1913–2010), composer, conductor

F

* Ralph Farris (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 (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 (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

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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 (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 Harutyun Hanesyan ( hy, Յարութիւն Հանէսեան; December 30, 1911 – March 7, 1987) was a Turkish violist and composer. He was Armenian by ethnicity. Biography Hanesyan was born on December 30, 1911, in Istanbul in the Ottoman Empi ...

(1911–1987), composer * John Harbison (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 (1878–1949), violinist, conductor, composer * Willy Hess (1859–1939), violinist * Raphael Hillyer (1914–2010) * Paul Hindemith (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 (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 (b. 1943) *

Yuko Inoue , is a Japanese classical violist. Biography She studied violin at Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo. In 1978, she went to study with violist Nobuko Imai at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. She was First Prize Wi ...

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 Baudime Jam (born 1972 in Clermont-Ferrand) is a French violist, composer and musicologist. Biography He has made himself known by composing original scores for accompanying silent films, performing numerous transcriptions for string quartet, a ...

(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 Jiří Kabeš, alias ''Kába'' (* 26 March 1946 in Křemín, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech rock singer, violist, violinist, guitarist and songwriter. He was a longtime member of The Plastic People of the Universe where he played on viola and violin, ...

(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 (b. 1952) *

Milton Katims Milton Katims (June 24, 1909February 27, 2006) was an American violist and conductor. He was music director of the Seattle Symphony for 22 years (1954–76). In that time he added more than 75 works, made recordings, premiered new pieces and le ...

(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 (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 (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 (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 (1907–1987) * Paul Klengel (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 Johann Král (16 May 1823 – 10 June 1912) was an Austrian Empire-born player of the viola and viola d'amore. Král was born in Kolinec, Austrian Empire, and studied at Prague Conservatory with Friedrich Wilhelm Pixis. From 1842 to 1850 he was vi ...

(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 (b. 1971) *

Emil Kreuz Emil Anton Joseph Friedrich Kreuz, also known as Emil Frederick Thornfield (25 May 1867 – 3 December 1932) was a German violinist, Viola, violist, teacher, Conducting, conductor and composer. Biography Emil Kreuz was born in Elberfeld near Wuppe ...

(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 (1897–1969) * Theodore Kuchar (b. 1960), conductor * Ferdinand Küchler (1867–1937), violinist, composer *

Michael Kugel Michael Kugel ( ua, Михайло Бенедиктович Кугель; born December 5, 1946) is a Ukrainian viola player and composer. Biography Born in Kharkiv, USSR, he studied at the Beethoven School of Music, at the Music College in Khar ...

(b. 1946) * Sigiswald Kuijken (b. 1944), violinist, conductor

L

* Michelle LaCourse *

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 (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 (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 Harold Levin (born 13 March 1956) is an American violist, composer, and conductor. An Interlochen Arts graduate, Levin holds a BS from Ball State University, a MM from the University of Cincinnati, and a DMA from Rutgers University. He has bee ...

(b. 1956) *

Avri Levitan Avri Levitan (born 1973) is an Israeli violist based in Berlin. He conceived the nonprofit Musethica with Carmen Marcuello in 2009 and launched it in 2012 in Zaragoza, Spain. Levitan has received nominations at the ''BBC Music Magazine'' Awards ...

(b. 1973) * Jodi Levitz *

Teng Li Teng Li (born in Nanjing, China) is a Chinese-Canadian 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 Artisti ...

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 (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 (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 (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 Virginia Majewski (August 30, 1907 – October 9, 1995) was an American viola and viola d’amore player. Biography Virginia Majewski was born August 30, 1907, in Norfolk, Virginia, to Julia and Otto Majewski.“The Girls of the Trio Classique ...

(1907–1995) *

Sergey Malov Sergey Efimovich Malov (russian: Серге́й Ефи́мович Ма́лов; 28 January 1880, Kazan - 6 September 1957, Leningrad) was a Russian Turkologist who made important contributions to the documentation of archaic and contemporary Tur ...

(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 (1919–1977), violinist *

Jethro Marks Jethro Marks is a Canadian/American classical violist. He is the founding violist of the Zukerman Chamber Players and the Principal Violist of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. Jethro was born in Vancouver into a musical family, and b ...

Carlo Martelli Carlo Martelli (born 12 December 1935) is an English composer and viola player of Italian extraction who saw early success and high profile performances with his orchestral and chamber music concert works, but later turned to light music and film ...

(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 (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 (1949–2021), composer * Yehudi Menuhin (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 (b. 1957), violinist * Alexander Mishnaevski *

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 Arie Van de Moortel (17 July 1918, in Laeken – 1 May 1976, in Brussels) was a Belgian viola virtuoso, composer and music teacher. Van de Moortel studied at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels receiving first prize in viola and chamber music in 193 ...

(1918–1976), composer * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), composer *

Janee Munroe Lorne Munroe (November 24, 1924 – May 4, 2020) was an American cellist.Gibson, Ronald and Winters, Kenneth"Munroe, Lorne*, ''Encyclopedia of Music in Canada''. Accessed March 12, 2009 He was principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra from ...

(1923–2006) *

Henry Myerscough Henry Myerscough (1927 in Islington, London – 2007) was a British violist. In addition to solo work and teaching, he formed the Fidelio Quartet with his brother, the violinist Clarence Myerscough, and performed for many years as a session m ...

(1927–2007)

N

Philipp Naegele Philipp Otto Naegele (January 22, 1928 – January 31, 2011) was a United States-based violinist, violist and scholar. Naegele was born in Stuttgart in January 1928. In 1939 he traveled on the Kindertransport to England to escape Hitler's regim ...

(1928–2011), violinist * Naruhito, Emperor of Japan (b. 1960) * Oskar Nedbal (1874–1930), composer * Paul Neubauer (b. 1962) * Václav Neumann (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 (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 (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 (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 (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 (1919–2015) * Bruno Pasquier (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 Pierre Pasquier may refer to: * Pierre Pasquier (businessman) * Pierre Pasquier (colonial administrator) * Pierre Pasquier (violist) Pierre Pasquier (14 September 1902 – 1986) was a French violist. Born in Tours, Pasquier was a student of Mau ...

(1902–1986) *

Clara Petrozzi Clara Petrozzi (former Clara Petrozzi-Stubin, born Clara Cristina Petrozzi Helasvuo; 30 December 1965) is a Peruvian-born violinist, violist, musicologist and composer. She is based in Finland. Biography Clara was born in Lima, Peru in 1965. Hi ...

(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 (1909–1984), violinist * Ashan Pillai (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 switch ...

(b. 1977) *

William Presser William Henry Presser (19 April 1916, Saginaw, Michigan – 20 August 2004, Lafayette, Louisiana) was a prominent American composer, violinist, and a publisher of American chamber music particularly for brass and woodwinds. Both as a composer a ...

(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 (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 (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 Wilhelm Ramsøe (7 February 1837 – 15 April 1895) was a Danish composer, musician and conductor. Biography Emilio Wilhelm Ramsøe was born in Copenhagen, the second child of five. His father, Emilius Wilhelm Ramsøe (1807–1858) was a profes ...

(1837–1895), composer, conductor, violinist *

Émile Pierre Ratez Émile Pierre Ratez (also ''René Emile Ratez''; 5 November 1851– 19 May 1934) was a French composer, administrator, and violist. Life Ratez was born in Besançon and became a pupil of Pierre De Mol at the music school thereSee Grandemusica.net ...

(1851–1934), composer * Mary Ruth Ray (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 Allard de Ridder (3 May 1887 – 13 May 1966) was a Dutch–Canadian conductor, violist, and composer. He was notably the first conductor of both the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, the latter of which he found ...

(1887–1966), conductor, composer * Frederick Riddle (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 Joaquín Riquelme García (born in Murcia, Spain in 1983), is a Spanish viola soloist and member of the Berlin Philharmonic. Biography Born in Murcia (Spain) in 1983, Joaquín started his music studies in Murcia, before moving to Madrid to study ...

(b. 1983) *

Karen Ritscher Karen Ritscher is an American violist and academic. She is on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music, New York University and Boston University. She has performed and taught in the United States, Asia and Europe. She is a certified 5Rhyth ...

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 (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 (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 (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 (1891–1967), composer, conductor * Matthias Sannemüller (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 Guido Antonio Santórsola di Bari Bruno (18 November 1904 in Canosa di Puglia, Italy – 24 September 1994 in Montevideo, Uruguay) was a Brazilian-Uruguayan composer, violinist, Viola, violist, viola d'amore player, and Conducting, conductor of Ita ...

(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 An ...

(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 (1797–1828), composer *

Joseph Schubert Joseph Schubert may refer to: * Joseph Schubert (composer) (1754–1837), German composer, violinist and violist * Joseph C. Schubert (1871–1959), mayor of Madison, Wisconsin * Joseph Schubert (bishop) (1890–1969), Romanian cleric and Roman ...

(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 (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 (b. 1951) *

Robert Siohan Robert Lucien Siohan (27 February 1894 – 16 July 1985) was a French conductor and composer. Trained as a violist, he also served as choral conductor. Biography Born in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, Siohan studied at the Conservatoire de P ...

(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 (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 (b. 1957) * Anton Stamitz (1750–c.1800), composer * Carl Stamitz (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 Helen Camille Stanley Hartmeyer Gatlin (6 April 1930 – 16 December 2021) was an American composer, pianist, and violist who began working with electronic and microtonal music in the 1960s. Stanley was born in Tampa, Florida, to Lucy Gage Crehore ...

(b.1930), composer * Jean Stewart (1914–2002) *

Scott St. John Scott St. John (born in , Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian violinist and violist. A recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, he was a member of the St. Lawrence String Quartet and on the faculty of Stanford University, where he taught violin and ...

(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 Josef Suk may refer to: * Josef Suk (composer) (1874–1935), Czech composer and violinist * Josef Suk (violinist) (1929–2011), his grandson, Czech violinist and conductor {{Hndis, Suk, Josef ...

(1929–2011), violinist *

Jean Sulem Jean Sulem is a French concert violist and teacher born in 1959. He has studied in the Conservatoire de Paris with Serge Collot. He has played in the "Ensemble Contemporain" directed by Pierre Boulez. He founded the Rosamonde Quartet The Rosam ...

(b. 1959) *

Louis Svećenski Louis Svećenski ( hr, Ljudevit "Lujo" Svećenski, born Ljudevit Kohn; November 7, 1862 – June 18, 1926) was notable Croatian-United States, American Viola, violist, violinist and rector of the Boston Academy of Music. Svećenski was born in Os ...

(1862–1926) *

Gusztáv Szerémi Gusztáv Szerémi ( hu, Szerémi Gusztáv; also Gustave Szerémi, Gustav Szerémi; 9 May 1877 in Budapest – 16 August 1952 in Budapest) was a Hungarian violinist, violist and composer. Szerémi was professor of violin and viola at the Royal Nat ...

(1877–1952), composer

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* 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 (b. 1938), conductor * Mela Tenenbaum, violinist * Lionel Tertis (1876–1975) *

Xaver Paul Thoma Xaver Paul Thoma (born 5 February 1953) is a German composer of contemporary music, violist and music educator. Life Thoma was born on 5 February 1953 in the Gasthaus zur Kanone in Haslach im Kinzigtal, the home of the Thoma family of artist ...

(b. 1953), composer * Marcus Thompson (b. 1946) * Katia Tiutiunnik (b. 1967), composer * Lars Anders Tomter (b. 1959) * Giuseppe Torelli (1658–1709), pedagogue, composer * Sabine Toutain (b. 1966) * Jacqueline Townshend (1912–1983), pianist, violinist * Walter Trampler (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 (1920–2010)

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Åke Uddén Åke Olof Sebastian Uddén (18 August 1903 in Lossa (now Låssa), Upplands-Bro Municipality, Stockholm County – 28 April 1987 in Stockholm) was a Swedish violist, composer, conductor and music educator. Uddén studied in Stockholm with Henrik M ...

(1903–1987), composer, conductor * Alfred Uhl (1909–1992) *

Chrétien Urhan Chrétien Urhan (Baptised as Christian Urhan; 16 February 1790 – 2 November 1845) was a French violinist, violist, organist and composer. Career outline Born in Montjoie, Urhan's father first introduced him to the violin. He was first publicly ...

(1790–1845)

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Roland Vamos Roland and Almita Vamos are a husband and wife who are violin and viola instructors. The Vamoses have been recognized at the White House seven times and were named Distinguished Teachers by the National Endowment for the Arts. They have been hono ...

(b. 1930) *

Léon van Hout Léon van Hout (28 November 1864, in Liège – 23 November 1945, in Brussels) was a Belgian violist and music educator. From 1888 to 1894 van Hout was the violist of the Ysaÿe Quartet along with cellist Joseph Jacob, and violinists Mathieu Cri ...

(1864–1945) * Emanuel Vardi (1915–2011) * Maxim Vengerov (b. 1974), violinist * Robert Vernon (b. 1949) * Maurice Vieux (1884–1951) * Johann Georg Hermann Voigt (1769–1811), composer * Ladislav Vycpálek (1882–1969), composer, violinist

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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 (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 (1739–1813) * Harry Waldo Warner (1874–1945), composer * Melia Watras * John Webb (b. 1969), composer * Hieronymus Weickmann (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 Lena Wood, (October 4, 1899 – September 23, 1982), was a British violist with the Birmingham Philharmonic String Orchestra and the Birmingham Ladies' String Quartet. She was a pupil of Lionel Tertis, performing and broadcasting with a number o ...

(1899–1982) * Mark Wood

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* 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 (1858–1931), violinist

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Bernard Zaslav Bernard Zaslav (April 7, 1926 – December 28, 2016) was an American viola soloist and chamber musician with an extensive recording and performance career. A founding member of The Composers Quartet in 1965, he went on to play with the Fine Arts ...

(1926–2016) *

Wen Xiao Zheng Wen Xiao Zheng (; born 1981) is a Chinese violist born in Shanghai and he studied at the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid. He is the second prize-winner at the 2008 ARD International Music Competition in Munich, Germany Germany,, ...

(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 (b. 1978), composer * Tabea Zimmermann (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 León Zuckert (4 May 1904 – 29 May 1992) was a Canadian composer, conductor, arranger, violinist, violist and radio pioneer of Ukrainian descent. He was married to the poet Ella Bobrow, with whom he collaborated on many songs. Early life and ...

(1904–1992), composer, violinist * Pinchas Zukerman (b. 1948), violinist {{col-end