Josh Newburger is the newly tenured principal violist of the Rochester Philharmonic. Formerly the assistant principal violist of the Pacific Symphony, Josh has performed as a guest principal with the Fresno Philharmonic and the Santa Barbara Symphony, and subbed with the LA Phil, San Diego Symphony, Colorado Symphony, and Buffalo Philharmonic. He made his debut in 2022 as a featured artist with the Rochester Philharmonic playing Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, and subsequently performed as a soloist in the Schulhoff Concerto for String Quartet and Winds.
During his time in the Los Angeles area Josh recorded for numerous feature films and television productions, working with renowned film composers including John Williams, James Newton Howard, and Ludwig Göransson. Among other credits, he can be heard on the soundtracks for movies from the Star Wars, Lego Movie, Creed, Charlie’s Angels, and IT franchises, and TV series including The Mandalorian, The Orville, and American Dad.
Josh has toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia as a member of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, and a guest musician with Ivan Fischer’s Budapest Festival Orchestra. He was twice selected as the assistant principal violist of the New York String Orchestra and studied as a fellow at the Music Academy of the West and the Verbier Festival.
He is a frequent performer with the Society for Chamber Music in Rochester, and has also been a guest of the Salastina Music Society and Colburn’s SongFest. As a baroque violist he has appeared with the Yale Schola Cantorum, Colorado Bach Ensemble and Publick Music.
In 2022 Josh also joined the faculty of the Eastman School of Music as an assistant professor of orchestral repertory.
Josh received his Bachelor’s degree in violin from the New England Conservatory as a student of Nicholas Kitchen. He later found his voice with the viola under the guidance and encouragement of Michael Klotz, and ultimately obtained his Master’s degree in viola from Yale, where he studied with Ettore Causa.
