Atar Arad, viola
Israeli-born violist and composer Atar Arad is a Distinguished Professor at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, Bloomington. A former faculty at the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth, Royal Northern College of Music, Eastman School of Music, Rice University and Carnegie Mellon, he also taught and performed at summer festivals such as Salzburg, Aspen, Keshet Eilon, Domaine Forget, Heifetz Institute, Steans Music Institute (Ravinia Festival, where he is serving as faculty since 1991), North Shore Chamber Music Festival and Morningside Music Bridge.
A Cum Laude First Prize winner at the Geneva International Music Competition (1972), he has performed worldwide in recitals and as a soloist with major orchestras and, for seven years (1980-87), as a member of the celebrated Cleveland Quartet. His recordings with the quartet and as a soloist for labels such as Teldec, Telarc, RCA and RIAX are widely acclaimed. His performance of Paganini’s Sonata Per La Grand’ Viola e Orchestra in particular is considered by many as a landmark in the history of the viola.
A “late bloomer” composer, Arad’s compositions include a Solo Sonata for Viola, two String Quartets, a Viola Concerto, a String Trio (commissioned by NSCM), ‘Music Bridge’ for string orchestra (commissioned by MMB) and many more. His ‘Tikvah’ for viola solo was commissioned for the 2008 Munich International Viola Competition by the ARD. His ‘Listen (three poems by W.S. Merwin)’ for tenor, clarinet, viola, cello and bass was written for the International Musicians Seminar’s concert tour in England with singer Mark Padmore. ‘Epitaph’ for cello and string orchestra was written for cellist Gary Hoffman who premiered it in Kronberg, Germany, with the Kremerata Baltica Orchestra (Arad presented the viola version of this piece at the International Viola Congress in Rochester, NY). He performed his ‘Twelve Caprices for viola’ on several USA, Canada, Israel and European concert tours. The Caprices are published by Hofmeister Musikverlag, Leipzig. In November 2018, Arad was a featured artist at the International Viola Congress in Rotterdam, premiering his new concerto for viola and strings, titled ‘Ceci N’est Pas Un Bach’.
Atar Arad is a recipient of the American Viola Society’s Career Achievement Award (June 2018) and the International Viola Society’s Silver Alto Clef 2018 “in recognition for his outstanding contributions to the viola” (November 2018).
In 2021, Arad composed his ‘Chaconne’ for solo viola, commissioned by the International Hindemith Viola Competition. Supported by an IU Presidential Arts and Humanities Production Art, he followed by inviting four former students to write and perform a collaborative work, ‘Partita Party” (2023).
Arad plays on a viola by Niccolo Amati, ‘The Arad’, and uses strings by Thomastik-Infeld.