Maestri 2010
Arad, Atar
Atar Arad was born in Tel Aviv, where he began his musical education. In July, 1972, he won the City of London Prize as a laureate of the Carl Flesch Competition for Violin and Viola. Two months later he was awarded the First Prize at the International Viola Competition in Geneva. Numerous concerts followed - as a soloist with major orchestras, and in recitals at some of Europe’s most prestigious festivals. His album in collaboration with pianist Evelyne Brancart, was praised by High Fidelity magazine as being “perhaps the best-played viola recital ever recorded”. In 1980 Atar joined the Cleveland Quartet, and with them toured throughout world, and recorded for labels such as RCA, CBS and Telarc. He has taught at the Royal Northern College of Music, Eastman School of Music, Rice University, and is currently Professor of Viola at Indiana University, Bloomington, and in Chicago. Atar is also a composer, and in 2005, he premiered his own viola concerto, which was subsequently recorded for the RIAX label. He was commissioned by ARD to write a piece for solo viola (Tikvah) for the 2008 International Viola Competition in Munich.