Barbara Hamilton

Background

About Barbara Hamilton

Barbara is currently Artistic Director and Violist with the Colorado Chamber Players, a position she has held for 25 years. She is a Teaching Artist at Denver School of the Arts. She served as principal violist and soloist with the Eastern Music Festival, the Colorado Symphony, Orquesta Ciudad de Barcelona, and Orquesta de Valencia. She was a member of the New York Philharmonic for 1 year. Dr. Hamilton received a DMA from Yale School of Music (1992), with a dissertation on the Alexander Technique. While living in Spain, she played with the acclaimed "Cuarteto Martin y Soler", touring Mexico, Scandinavia, and Europe. The quartet played frequently for the Royal Family of Spain. Dr. Hamilton performedthe Valencia premiere of Penderecki's Viola Concerto, with Maestro Penderecki conducting. She taught viola, chamber music and Alexander Technique for 7 years with the National Youth Orchestra of Catalunya, Spain (JONDE). Barbara studied with Jesse Levine and Karen Tuttle and was a prizewinner in the Fischoff and Aspen Festival competitions. In the 1990's, she performed in Europe with the Orquesta Ciudad de Barcelona, the NY Virtuosi in the Grosse Saal/Vienna, the Concertgebauw, Leipzig Gewandhaus, and the Tonhalle. Dr. Hamilton returned to teach at the Yale School of Music in 1998, and taught on the faculty of UC/Boulder in 2003. She served 2 terms on the board of the American Viola Society. Some of Barbara's esteemed chamber music partners have been Lynn Harrell, Franco Gulli, Julia Fischer, Dmitri Sitkovetsky, David Krakauer, Sharon Isbin, Jesse Levine, Jeffrey Kahane, Patricia McCarty, Charles Castleman, and Daniel Damiano (Berlin Philharmonic). Summer festivals include the Aspen Festival, Grand Tetons, Norfolk, Garth Newell, Rocky Ridge, and June in Buffalo. In 2004, Barbara traveled to Beijing, China, where she taught and performed at the Central Conservatory. She has recorded for the Centaur, Bluebird, CBS Masterworks, PollyRhythm and Harmonia Mundii labels.