Wendy Richman, viola, has been celebrated internationally for her compelling sound and “absorbing,” “fresh and idiomatic” interpretations with “a brawny vitality” (New York Times, Washington Post). As soloist and chamber musician, she has performed at Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Royce Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mostly Mozart Festival, and international festivals in Berlin, Darmstadt, Edinburgh, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Karlsruhe, Morelia, and Vienna.Richman is a founding member of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), with whom she performs regularly in New York City and around the world. She collaborates with a wide range of composers, including commissions of works in which she sings and plays simultaneously. Her debut solo album, vox/viola, was released on New Focus Recordings (2020). She frequently performs with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and she has been a regular guest with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the orchestral viola sections of Atlanta, Minnesota, and St. Louis.
Also a distinguished educator, Dr. Richman serves as an academic lecturer at UCLA and as the viola instructor at California State University at Northridge (CSUN). She is a sought-after clinician at universities and conservatories across the country, offering classes on viola repertoire and technique, lectures on string instrument notation, and workshops on contemporary string techniques. She holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory (B.M.), New England Conservatory (M.M.), and Eastman School of Music (D.M.A. with Diploma in Ethnomusicology).
Dr. Richman’s research interests address musicians’ communities, stemming from her own experiences with composer-performer relationships, gender-based discrimination, and disability. Her own compositions link her love of unconventional string sounds with reflections on nature, physical trauma, and invisible disability.
