Eric Nowlin

Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Second-prize winner of the 2006 Walter W. Naumburg competition, violist Eric Nowlin has performed extensively throughout the United States as well as abroad. He has been described by the Springfield (MO) News-Leader as “having a full, warm tone, expressive phrasing, and effortless technical command that suggest an artist twice his age” and by the Santa Cruz Sentinel as “displaying the remarkable capabilities of the viola, with a rich tone and sensitive interpretive skills”.

Past accomplishments include receiving first prize in the 2003 Irving Klein International String Competition; first prize in the 2002 Hellam Young Artists Competition; grand prize in the 2001 Naftzger Young Artists Competition; and winner of the 2001 Juilliard Viola Concerto Competition, which led to a performance of Hindemith’s Konzertmusik with Roberto Minzcuk conducting the Juilliard Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall.

Performances have included solo engagements with the Springfield Symphony in Missouri, Santa Cruz Symphony, Peninsula Symphony, and the Kumamoto Symphony in Japan, as well as recitals in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Mexico. Mr. Nowlin has been featured on NPR, WQXR in New York, WGBH in Boston, WFMT in Chicago, as well as television programs in Wisconsin and California. He is an active chamber musician, currently serving as violist of the New Orford String Quartet. Mr. Nowlin has participated in festivals such as the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont and the Steans Institute for Young Artists at Ravinia. He is a regular member of the Jupiter Chamber Players in New York City, and has also toured with Musicians from Marlboro and Musicians from Ravinia’s Steans Institute.
In addition to solo and chamber music performances, Mr. Nowlin recently won the position of Associate Principal Viola with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and started in the 08-09 season. He previously played regularly as a substitute in the viola section of the New York Philharmonic, performing with them during their residency at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival as well as on their European tour in 2008; and has served as a guest principal with Cleveland’s Citymusic and New York City’s Metropolis Ensemble.

Mr. Nowlin was chosen as the recipient of a Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation Grant in 2004, an award intended for the advancement of young artist’s performance careers.
Mr. Nowlin received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, as a scholarship student of Samuel Rhodes.