MICHELLE LACOURSE, viola

 

Michelle LaCourse has appeared as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe and South America, including recent performances in Italy, Spain, and Brazil. Her playing has been described by critics in such terms as “a miraculous blend of intense passion and artistic elegance” and “has a mastery of the instrument like a sixth sense, and with it reveals to us the most profound secrets.” An enthusiastic advocate for new viola repertoire, she has also commissioned and premiered several new pieces for the instrument. Her recent recording, “Chocolates: Music for Viola and Piano by James Grant” was released by MSR Classics in February of 2009 to rave reviews.

 Ms. LaCourse was formerly a member of the Lehigh Quartet, the Delphic String Trio and the Aeolian Trio. She has performed at numerous festivals such as Aspen, Eastern, Interlochen, Skaneateles, Musicorda, the Heifetz Institute, the International Festivals of Campos do Jordão, Brazil, of Positano, Italy, and of Vianden, Luxembourg, and at some of the world’s leading concert venues, such as Vienna’s Musikverein, Berlin’s Kammermusiksaal and Washington’s Kennedy Center. As an orchestral musician, she has performed with the Baltimore Symphony, and was formerly principal violist of the Chamber Orchestra of Grenoble France and of the Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.

 She holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where she studied with, and was for many years teaching assistant to renowned pedagogue Karen Tuttle. Ms. LaCourse currently teaches viola at Boston University’s School of Music, where she is also Chair of the String Department. She was recently awarded BU’s 2009 Metcalf Prize and Cup, the university’s highest honor for excellence in teaching. She has given master classes at music schools across the United States, and during the summer months she also teaches and performs at the annual Karen Tuttle Viola Workshops and at BU’s Tanglewood Institute. In December of 2009 she will also teach and perform in Seoul, South Korea.