Kirsten Docter – Geneva Music Festival

Kirsten Docter is Associate Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. First prize wins at the Primrose International and American String Teachers Association Viola Competitions launched her on a career that includes a 23-year tenure with the Cavani Quartet, concerts on major series and festivals throughout North America, Europe, and Australia, and numerous appointments as a master class clinician and teacher. During her time as violist of the award-winning Cavani String Quartet, Docter performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Kennedy Center, Festival de L’Epau in France, the Honolulu Chamber Music Society; and appeared in features on public radio programs Performance Today and St. Paul Sunday; and television programs on NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS. The quartet was also honored with an award from ASCAP-Chamber Music America for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music, as well as Guarneri String Quartet Residency Awards and Chamber Music America Residency Partnership Grants. Docter’s festival appearances include performances at the Aspen Music Festival, Banff Centre for the Arts, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Mimir Chamber Music Festival (Texas and Melbourne, Australia), Sitka Summer Music, Interlochen, Kneisel Hall, Yale Summer School of Music and Art at Norfolk, and the Perlman Music Program. She has collaborated with Itzhak Perlman, Jaime Laredo, Alisa Weilerstein, Stephanie Blythe, Nathan Gunn, Alessio Bax, and members of the Cleveland, Juilliard, Takács, Emerson, Borodin, and Amadeus string quartets. Her work can be heard on the Azica, Albany, New World, and Gasparo labels. She recently played the world premiere of Jesse Jones’ Viola Concerto with Tim Weiss and the Oberlin Contemporary Ensemble. Docter will join the chamber music faculty at the University of Michigan during the 2021-22 academic year. She formerly served on the chamber music and viola faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music and has given numerous master classes at universities and music schools. She has been a jury member of the Primrose International Viola, Fischoff National Chamber Music, and Sphinx competitions. In addition to her position at Oberlin, she is on the viola faculty of the Perlman Music Program and Workshop, and the Bowdoin International Music Festival. Docter is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory with additional studies at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Other Artist

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Clara Lyon

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Clive Greensmith

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Eliot Heaton

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Eric Wong

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Esther Park

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