Composer's Workshop: Stephen Upshaw

Stephen Upshaw

Title: Contemporary Repertoire for Viola

American violist Stephen Upshaw regularly appears in festivals around the world including the BBC Proms, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh, Lucerne, Huddersfield, Aix-en-Provence, Wien Modern and the Salzburg Chamber Music Festival. Much in demand as a chamber musician, he is a member of the award-winning Solem Quartet – praised for their '“immaculate precision and spirit” (The Strad) and recognized as one of the most innovative and adventurous quartets of its generation. He has also shared the stage with artists such as Tai Murray, Gary Hoffman, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Philippe Graffin, Jennifer Stumm and Garth Knox. Recent engagements have taken him to Boston’s Jordan Hall, London’s Barbican and Wigmore Halls, Tokyo Opera City, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and Vienna’s Konzerthaus.

A noted interpreter of contemporary music, Stephen is also a member of London’s Riot Ensemble, winners of the Ernst von Siemens Foundation Ensemble Prize, whose disc ‘Speak Be Silent’ was selected as one of New Yorker Magazine’s ‘Best Recordings of 2019’. He has worked closely with many of today’s leading composers, including Max Richter, John Adams, Thomas Adès, George Benjamin and Helmut Lachenmann. Expanding the repertoire of the viola through the commissioning of new music has always been a feature of Stephen’s work. He has taken part in over 300 world premieres including chamber music of Georg Haas and Sally Beamish (alongside the composer) and solo works of Mark Simpson, Simon Holt, Michael Finnissy and Errollyn Wallen.

In 2022 Stephen became professor of viola at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Junior Department. He has published pedagogical articles in Strad Magazine and is invited to give masterclasses across the UK, US and Europe.