Steven Ansell joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra as its principal violist in September 1996, having already appeared with the orchestra in Symphony Hall as guest principal viola. A native of Seattle, Mr. Ansell also remains a member of the acclaimed Muir String Quartet, which he co-founded twenty-six years ago, and with which he has toured extensively throughout the world. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Michael Tree and Karen Tuttle, Mr. Ansell was named professor of viola at the University of Houston at twenty-one and became assistant principal viola of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under André Previn at twenty-three. As a recording artist he has received two Grand Prix du Disque awards and a Gramophone Magazine award for Best Chamber Music Recording of the Year.
Mr. Ansell has soloed numerous times at Boston's Symphony Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Tanglewood including performances with Sinfonia Concertante, the Boston Classical Orchestra, Yo Yo Ma, and Mstislav Rostropovitch. Mr. Ansell has soloed under conductors including Seiji Ozawa, Andre Previn, Ernst Krivine, and Harris Ellis Dickson. He has He has appeared on PBS's "In Performance at the White House" and has participated in the Tanglewood, Schleswig-Holstein, Marlboro, Blossom, Newport, Spoleto, and Snowbird festivals.
Mr. Ansell currently teaches at the Boston University School for the Arts. As principal viola of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he is also a member of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players.
