A viola concerto is a concerto contrasting a viola with another body of musical instruments such as an orchestra or chamber music ensemble. Throughout music history, especially during the Baroque, Classical, Romantic eras, viola was viewed mostly as an ensemble instrument. Though there were a few notable concertos written for the instrument in this time period, these instances were quite rare and the instrument continued to be ignored. However, during the 20th century, the instrument was revitalized thanks to the work of a number of violists and composers, which led to the commission and composition of many more viola concertos, expanding the repertoire significantly.
Chloë Elise Hanslip is a British classical violinist.
The Frankfurt Radio Symphony is the radio orchestra of Hessischer Rundfunk, the public broadcasting network of the German state of Hesse. From 1929 to 1950 it was named Frankfurter Rundfunk-Symphonie-Orchester. From 1950 to 1971 the orchestra was named Sinfonie-Orchester des Hessischen Rundfunks, from then to 2005 Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt. Prior to 2015, the English translation Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra was used for international tours.
Tabea Zimmermann is a German violist who has performed internationally, both as a soloist and a chamber musician. She has been artist in residence of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 2004, Zimmermann founded the Arcanto Quartet, a string quartet that performed until 2016. Several composers have written music for her, including György Ligeti, and she has made her own version of Bartók's Viola Concerto from the composer's sketches.
Nobuko Imai, is a renowned Japanese classical violist with an extensive career as soloist and chamber musician. Since 1988 she has played a 1690 Andrea Guarneri instrument.
Christoph Koncz is an Austrian-Hungarian conductor, performing internationally with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal and Hong Kong Philharmonic.
A clarinet–viola–piano trio, often titled "Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano" is a work of chamber music that is scored for clarinet, viola, and piano; or is the designation for a musical ensemble of a group of three musicians playing these instruments. This combination of instruments differs from other combinations, as the viola and the clarinet share approximately the same musical range, but not the same tone quality.
Lars Vogt was a German classical pianist, conductor and academic teacher. Noted by The New York Times for his interpretations of Brahms, Vogt performed as a soloist with major orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic. He was the music director of the Orchestre de chambre de Paris at the time of his death and also served as the music director of the Royal Northern Sinfonia. He ran a festival of chamber music, Spannungen, from 1998, and succeeded his teacher Karl-Heinz Kämmerling as professor of piano at the Musikhochschule Hannover.
Raphaël Sévère born 15 September 1994 in Rennes, is a French clarinettist and composer.
Jörg Widmann is a German composer, conductor and clarinetist. In 2023, Widmann was the third most performed living contemporary composer in the world. Formerly a clarinet and composition professor at the University of Music Freiburg, he is composition professor at the Barenboim–Said Akademie. His most important compositions are the concert overture Con brio, the opera Babylon, an oratorio Arche, Viola Concerto, Kantate and the trumpet concerto Towards Paradise. Widmann has written musical tributes to Classical and Romantic composers. He was awarded the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art in 2018 and the Bach Prize of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg in 2023. He was Gewandhaus Composer of the Gewandhaus Orchester Leipzig and Composer in Residence for the Berlin Philharmonic.
Grigori (German) Semyonovich Gamburg was a Russian (Soviet) violinist, violist, composer and conductor.
Nicolas Altstaedt is a German-French cellist. His versatile career incorporates solo performance, chamber music, conducting, and artistic programming, with a repertoire spanning from early music to the contemporary.
Renaud Capuçon is a French classical violinist. Since late 2016 he has been teaching at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Jan Vogler is a German-born classical cellist who lives in New York City.
Carolin Widmann is a German classical violinist. She focuses on contemporary music. Widmann plays a violin made in 1782 by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini.
Pierre Lénert is a French violist. An international concertist, he is first solo violist of the Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Paris.
Tatjana Masurenko is a German violist of Russian descent.
Linus Roth is a German classical violinist and an academic teacher of violin. He has performed internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. He is particularly interested in the music of Mieczysław Weinberg, whose complete works featuring a solo violin Roth has recorded. He has been a teacher at the Leopold Mozart Centre, and artistic director of music festivals. Roth plays the 1703 Dancla Stradivarius on loan from Landesbank Baden-Württemberg.
Jörg Widmann's Viola Concerto was composed in 2015 and premiered on 28 October 2015 with soloist Antoine Tamestit and the Orchestre de Paris under the direction of Paavo Järvi at Philharmonie de Paris. The concerto attracted attention, because of its theatralic aspects.
