Robert Vernon

Head, Viola Department, is serving in his 31st season as principal viola of The Cleveland Orchestra. Mr. Vernon graduated with honors from The Juilliard School of Music. He has performed at most of this country's major chamber music festivals, including Aspen, Blossom, La Jolla, Marlboro, Ravinia, Round Top, Sarasota, Tanglewood and Yellow Barn. He has appeared with the orchestras of St. Louis, Denver, Detroit, Berlin Radio Orchestra, New World Symphony, Grant Park and Florida Orchestra (among others), and has appeared as soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra in more than 150 concerts, both at home in Cleveland and on tour in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Mr. Vernon is a member of the teaching faculties of Kent/Blossom, the National Orchestral Institute in Maryland, and the New World Symphony in Miami. As a soloist, he has recorded Berlioz's Harold in Italy, Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante and Richard Strauss' Don Quixote. In November 2000, he recorded the Schoenfield Viola Concerto with the Berlin Radio Orchestra, a work commissioned in 1998 by the Musical Arts Association for Mr. Vernon and The Cleveland Orchestra. Former students hold positions as chamber musicians, teachers and as players in major orchestras, including Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minnesota, St. Louis, Houston, Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Montreal and Toronto (to date, more than 50 different orchestras). Mr. Vernon's solo and chamber music recordings appear on Telarc, Innova and Decca/London. He is featured on a CD of orchestral excerpts with spoken commentary, a study tool for young violists on the Orchestra Pro Series for Summit Records. Due to be published soon is a book on orchestral excerpts for viola,"The Essential Orchestral Excerpts for Viola, the Keys to Winning an Audition." He was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1976.

Photo courtesy of Roger Mastroianni (www.rogermastroianni.com)

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