Stephen Upshaw
Viola

American violist Stephen Upshaw regularly appears in festivals around the world including the BBC Proms, Cheltenham, IMS Prussia Cove, Lucerne, Brighton, Huddersfield, Aix-en-Provence, Wien Modern, Donaueschingen and the Salzburg Chamber Music Festival. 

Much in demand as a chamber musician, he is a member of the Solem Quartet and has also shared the stage with artists such as Tai Murray, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Philippe Graffin, Jennifer Stumm and Garth Knox. Recent recital and chamber music 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, 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.

Stephen  serves on the faculty at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Junior Department, Switzerland’s Lucerne Festival Academy (where he also co-curates the annual ‘Festival Forward’) and has been invited to adjudicate past editions of the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards and the Royal Overseas League Competition.

He has published pedagogical articles in Strad Magazine and is invited to give masterclasses across the UK, US and Europe.