2024 Primrose International Viola Competition & American Viola Society Festival Program Book

2024 American Viola Society Festival Competition Jurors

Christiana Fortune-Reader Christiana Fortune - Reader is a multi - faceted musician, passionate about the intersection of teaching, performing, community building, and arts advocacy. She is an Assistant Professor of Music at SUNY New Paltz in the Hudson Valley, teaching violin, viola, and serving as orchestra director. Her research interests consider music as a tool for social change and community building. She works with people of all ages from early childhood to college - aged students, and within Caroline Gilbert Caroline Gilbert, born in Bloomington, IN, grew up playing the violin in the pre - college program at Indiana University. After a little soul searching at Vanderbilt University where she double majored in music and pre - med, she transferred to Indiana University where she completed her Bachelors of Music with Atar Arad. While at the University, she won the concerto competition and performed Hindemith Der Schwanendreher as a soloist with the Indiana University chamber orchestra and

larger groups of community and professional ensembles. She has presented at national conferences and performed internationally, studying with Jeff Irvine, Lynne Ramsey, Donald McInnes, Karen Ritscher, and Carol Rodland.

was asked to represent the school at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., performing in the "Conservatory Project” concert series. She studied with Samuel Rhodes and Rodger Tapping at The Juilliard School, and after completing her degrees, she moved to Miami Beach to join the New World Symphony until winning the Principal Viola position with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in 2017. She is now a regular member in the Arizona Music Festival and Grand Teton Music Festival orchestras.

Federico Andrés Hood Pérez Federico, born in Bogotá, Colombia, into a family of musicians, began violin lessons at a young age. At 15, he joined professionally the “Orquesta Sinfónica del Valle”. He later studied in the US at TCU and IU Bloomington, obtaining his bachelor’s degree and a Performer's Diploma. In 2003, he moved to Spain, joining the Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra, eventually becoming principal viola soloist in the Monte - Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra. Federico is also part of

the renowned Trio Goldberg, which has received numerous accolades and recorded numerous albums. He is active in teaching and is a founding member of the Nelli Shkolnikova Academy. Andrea Priester Houde Andrea is Associate Professor of Viola at West Virginia University. Her genuine love and dedication to her craft can be seen in performances around the world and in the unique environment of her teaching studio. Specializing in viola pedagogy, Houde combines performance and teaching in clinics and presentations, including WVU Viola Days and WVU Viola Bootcamps. She is on the faculty of the Interlochen Arts Camp and is a former board member of the American Viola Society. Her recording, The American Viola, was released by Albany Records and features the historic world premiere of the first American viola compositions.

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