Artists

Biography:

A violist of international reputation, Roberto Díaz holds the prestigious position of President and CEO of the Curtis Institute of Music. He thereby follows in the footsteps of renowned soloist/directors such as Rudolf Serkin, Gary Graffman, Efrem Zimbalist and Josef Hofmann. As a professor of viola at Curtis and former principal viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Mr Díaz has already had a significant impact on American musical life and continues to do so in his dual roles as performer and educator. He has worked with many internationally renowned orchestras and with conductors and composers such as Edison Denisov, Roberto Sierra and Ricardo Lorenz, whose viola concerto, Canciones de Jara, he premiered in October 2010. Future collaborations on solo viola repertoire include Jennifer Higdon and David Stock.

Among his recordings are works by Brahms, Vieuxtemps, Jacob Druckman, Jonathan Leshoff and a 2006 recording of viola transcriptions by William Primrose which was nominated for a Grammy Award. An active chamber musician, Mr Díaz has performed with artists such as the Emerson and Tokyo string quartets, Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Christoph Eschenbach, Yo-Yo Ma, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Isaac Stern. As a member of the Díaz Trio, with violinist Andrés Cárdenes and cellist Andrés Díaz, he has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico and Chile.

Mr Díaz received an Honorary Doctorate from Bowdoin College and was awarded an Honorary Membership by the National Board of the American Viola Society.

In addition to his decade-long tenure as principal viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Roberto Díaz was principal viola of the National Symphony under Mstislav Rostropovich, a member of the Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa, and a member of the Minnesota Orchestra under Sir Neville Marriner.