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Paul Laraia
Acclaimed by The Strad for his "eloquent” and "vibrant" playing, violist Paul Laraia is an active soloist, chamber musician, and new music proponent. In competition, he was awarded First Prize in the 13th Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, First Prize in the 14th National Sphinx Competition, and Gold Medal with High Distinction at the fifth Manhattan International Music Competition.
As an internationally acclaimed soloist, Laraia has performed with major orchestras such as the Pittsburgh Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Filharmonica de Bogotá, New Jersey Symphony, Nashville Symphony, New Haven Symphony, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and has been a featured soloist at London's Wigmore Hall, the Shalin Liu Performance Center, the 40th International Viola Congress, and at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Since 2013, Laraia has been a member of the Grammy Award-winning Catalyst Quartet, which has held residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon, and SF Performances in San Francisco.
Laraia has worked directly with many of the leading voices in composition such as Jessie Montgomery, David Ludwig Serkin, Gabriella Lena Frank, Richard Danielpour, Jimmy Lopez, and Todd Machover. He also maintains a close artistic partnership with Taiwanese composer Shiuan Chang, with whom he is crafting new work calling for peace in our troubled times.
Laraia completed his studies at New England Conservatory under Kim Kashkashian and the Glenn Gould School in Toronto under Steven Dann has been Professor of Viola at the Boston Conservatory of Music since 2023.