KAREN RITSCHER, praised by The New York Times for her “superior musicianship,” is recognized internationally as a leading pedagogue and performer. She was appointed Associate Professor of Viola at the Shepherd School in the year 2001, after teaching viola and chamber music at such schools as the Manhattan School of Music, the Mannes College of Music, the Eastman School of Music and the University of Massachusetts. As a master class clinician, she has been invited to Canada, Mexico, Spain, Korea, Taiwan and China. Summer residencies have included the Aspen Festival, Musicorda Summer Music Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival, Domaine-Forget and the Quartet Program at Bucknell. Since its inception in 2002, she has served on the faculty of the annual “Karen Tuttle Workshop.”
Ms. Ritscher performs regularly with the Azure Ensemble, and has been a member of the Aureus Piano Quartet, Steve Reich Musicians and St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble. She has served as Principal Violist of the American Composers Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Houston Grand Opera and the Dallas Opera. She has toured and recorded with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, New York Philharmonic and the Houston Symphony. As a concerto soloist, she has appeared with such orchestras as the Westchester Philharmonic, the Dallas Chamber Orchestra, the Colonial Symphony of New Jersey, the Texas Music Festival Orchestra and the Texas Chamber Symphony.
As a champion of living composers, Ms. Ritscher has commissioned and/or premiered works from many composers, including Bruce Adolphe, Wendy Mae Chambers, Linda Bouchard, Tan Dun, Chen Yi, Bright Sheng and Alice Shields. She has appeared at four International Viola Congresses as featured soloist and presenter. She also recently recorded her first CD of the complete works for Viola and Piano by Ernest Bloch.
Ms. Ritscher is honored to have been the string consultant for the award-winning new book by Madeline Bruser, The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from the Heart. She is the Education Editor of the Journal of the American Viola Society, author of the column “From the Studio,” and frequent contributor to string magazines.
