Atar Arad

Israeli-born violist and composer Atar Arad is professor of music in viola at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

His summer activities include teaching at Keshet Eilon in Israel, Domaine Forget in Canada, the Heifetz Institute, and the Steans Music Institute, where he has served on faculty since 1991.

A cum-laude first-prize winner at the Geneva International Music Competition (1972), Arad has performed worldwide in recitals and as a soloist with major orchestras and, for seven years, as a member of the celebrated Cleveland Quartet. His recordings with the quartet and as a soloist for labels such as Teldec, Telarc, RCA, and RIAX are widely acclaimed. His performance of Paganini’s “Sonata per la Grand Viola e Orchestra” is considered by many as a landmark in viola performance.

A “late bloomer” composer, Arad’s compositions include a solo sonata for viola, two string quartets, a viola concerto (which he premiered in Bloomington, Brussels, and Stockholm), and more. His “Tikvah for Viola Solo” was commissioned for the 2008 Munich International Viola Competition by the ARD. His “Listen” (three poems by W. S. Merwin) for tenor, clarinet, viola, cello, and bass was written for the International Musicians Seminar’s concert tour with singer Mark Padmore in England.

“Epitaph” for cello and string orchestra was written for cellist Gary Hoffman, who premiered it in Kronberg, Germany, with the Kremerata Baltica Orchestra. (Arad performed the viola version of this piece at the International Viola Congress in Rochester, New York). Arad performed and presented his “Twelve Caprices for Viola” on several concert tours, including in the U.S., Canada, Israel, and Europe. The caprices are published by Hofmeister Musikverlag, Leipzig.

Recent performances include the Primrose Memorial Concert at Brigham Young University and, as a part of his services as the Lorand Fenyves Distinguished Visitor, in Toronto. In November 2018, Arad was a featured artist at the International Viola Congress in Rotterdam, premiering his new concerto for viola and strings, “Ceci n’est pas un Bach.”

Arad is a recipient of the American Viola Society’s Career Achievement Award (June 2018) and the International Viola Society’s Silver Alto Clef 2018 “in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the viola” (November 2018).

He plays a viola made by Niccolo Amati with a set of PI strings by Thomastik.