Music may start in the heart, but it passes through the brain.
In other words, your love of an instrument like the viola may drive you to practice the instrument constantly.
But without the proper teaching, you can only go so far.
Fortunately, excellent music schools across the United States have great instructors who have experience performing with legendary orchestras on the world’s best stages.
In these schools, students can work closely with those who have mastered the viola, learning alongside performers who will take the instrument into the 21st century.
These programs run the whole gamut from majors in state universities to highly selective private schools.
Some may thrive best in a conservatory, where they can study their instrument with laser focus. Others may like the career options provided by a liberal arts education and will seek out a traditional university or college.
Here are our picks for 10 of the best viola performance schools in the US.
Remember that these 10 schools are a starting point; the most important thing is to find the “right fit” college for you. Plenty of schools beyond these 10 could find themselves on a list like this one.
New England Conservatory (Boston, MA)
The New England Conservatory may be the oldest private music conservatory in the United States, but it isn’t stuck in the past.
Thanks to its excellent faculty and devotion to keeping classical music alive, NEC has been associated with winners of every award, including numerous recipients of the l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and quite a few MacArthur Fellows.
Since 2000, those teachers have included Grammy-winning artist Kim Kashkashian, recognized as a great teacher and performer.
She has performed as a soloist with major orchestras worldwide, including those in Berlin, Milan, and New York.
In addition to studying under teachers such as Kashkashian, viola players at NEC can also earn a liberal arts degree.
Partnering with Harvard University, NEC offers a small number of students to apply for the joint NEC-Harvard dual degree option.
Rice University Shepherd School of Music (Houston, TX)
While every school on this list acknowledges the importance of performance, few are as dedicated as the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.
Shepherd hosts more than 400 concerts every year, each one free of charge. Performers range from students and faculty at Shepherd to world-class talents.
Those faculty concerts include performances from Shepherd’s viola teacher, James Dunham.
A founding member of the Sequoia String Quartet and a former member of the Cleveland Quartet, Dunham has won major awards at every stage of his career.
Before coming to Shepherd, Dunham taught at both the California Institute of the Arts and the Eastman School of Music, chairing the string department at the latter.
Teachers such as Dunham are the reason Shepherd has become one of the country’s most respected schools since its relatively recent founding in 1974.
Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (Bloomington, IN)
The viola program deserves recognition thanks to the work of teachers such as Atar Arad, viola player and composer.
Since taking first prize at the Geneva International Music Competition in 1972, Arad has played alongside the world’s major orchestras and has been a member of the Cleveland Quartet for seven years.
In addition to performing and composing, Arad teaches at not just Jacobs, but also Keshet Eilon in Israel, the Steans Music Institute, and elsewhere.
The other viola faculty includes Stephen Wyrczynski, another well-known teacher and performer.
Viola performers at IU have a breadth of performance opportunities available to them, with 8 orchestras on campus to choose from.
Oberlin Conservatory of Music (Oberlin, OH)
Limiting itself to just 520 conservatory students and 180 double-degree students, the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College ensures a focused environment for future musicians.
Its small class sizes maintain a student-to-teacher ratio of just 6:1, allowing students to receive full attention from its faculty of professional musicians.
For viola players, those teachers include Peter Slowik, who splits his time between instructing classes at Oberlin and serving as artistic director for the chamber music program Credo, which is open to high school music students.
As a chamber musician, Slowik has performed alongside the Mirecort Trio, the Vermeer Quartets, and others.
He’s been the principal violist of the American Sinfonietta, the Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, and the Concertante di Chicago. All of this experience makes Slowik one of the most in-demand viola teachers in the world, and Oberlin students get his full attention.
Northwestern University Bienen School of Music (Evanston, IL)
No matter what instrument you’re interested in, Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music deserves your attention, thanks to its quarterly system.
Instead of splitting the school year into two or three semesters, this quarter system allows students to take a wider range of classes, thus broadening their horizons.
Furthermore, they can take advantage of the excellent facilities on campus.
That includes Bienen’s primary music building, which boasts a 400-seat recital hall, chorus and opera rehearsal rooms, and a black box theater.
However, for violists, the primary draw to Bienen is the chance to study under Helen Callus, who is considered a great teacher in her instrument.
In addition to playing with the orchestras of every major city, Callus has a decorated recording career, having cut albums with the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Bridge Ensemble.
Along with her courses at Beinen, Callus has taught masterclasses across the globe, including at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo and the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia, PA)
Everyone knows that there’s a financial risk involved in becoming a professional musician.
That’s why the Curtis Institute of Music helps its students get a good start, giving a full tuition scholarship to everyone who studies there.
Of course, such an offer means that Curtis must maintain a small student body of just 150 members, which means it can accept only 7% of those who apply.
But those who do make it in get to study under some of the most excellent musicians of our generation, a commitment to excellence that begins at the very top.
That principle can be seen in Curtis’s president and CEO, violist Roberto Díaz.
Díaz’s collaborators include some of the greatest composers of our time, including Krzysztof Penderecki and Jennifer Higdon, earning a Grammy for his recording of the latter’s Viola Concerto.
Colburn School (Los Angeles, CA)
To many, the Colburn School is the West Coast sister to the Curtis Institute, a designation it earns not just because of the similar names.
Like Curtis, Colburn provides a full tuition scholarship to everyone accepted into their program and maintains a very small student body.
With an acceptance rate of just 10%, Colburn brings in just enough students to have a full orchestra and slots for pianists and conductors. As a result, the school has a student body of just 115 members.
But Colburn also rivals Curtis with its excellent faculty, which includes viola teacher Tatjana Masurenko.
Masurenko’s students have gone on to become chamber musicians and players in major orchestras, following in their teacher’s footsteps.
Masurenko has performed alongside Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the NDR Radiophilharmonie, and other respected orchestras internationally.
Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY)
There are many factors that a musician considers when choosing which school to choose.
Some of those factors include essential intangibles, such as the general culture or the successes of alumni. But practical, concrete factors matter as well.
With over 3,000 seats to fill with music lovers, the historic Eastman Theater brings students face-to-face with the best music in the world. That group includes the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, which uses the theater as its primary venue.
Equally important are teachers such as Professor of Viola George Taylor. Taylor has been a member of Duke University’s Ciompi Quartet and the Black Music Repertory Ensemble and currently participates in the Ritz Chamber Players.
University of Southern California Thornton School of Music (Los Angeles, CA)
Thanks to its home in the world’s entertainment capital, the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California has one of the best contemporary music programs in the world.
But that doesn’t mean Thornton has forgotten its classical roots, as demonstrated by its excellent viola teachers.
These teachers include Karen Dreyfus, who studied the viola under Leonard Mogill, and Karen Tuttle and Michael Tree at the Curtis Institute of Music.
Today, Dreyfus maintains an active recording and performing schedule, regularly appearing on stages and with orchestras worldwide.
While studying with faculty members like Dreyfus, students can play at one of Thornton’s many theaters and performance halls.
These offerings include the 1,235-seat Bovard Auditorium, a historical building over 100 years old.
