Jennifer Stumm, viola

First Prize, 2006 CAG Competition

Violist Jennifer Stumm is internationally recognized as a musical innovator and dynamic advocate for her instrument. Ms. Stumm is the winner of three major competitions: Concert Artists Guild in 2006, where she took First Prize as the first solo violist in the nearly 60-year history of the Competition; and the William Primrose and Geneva Competitions in 2005. Also in 2005, Ms. Stumm was honored with an award from the Vriendenkrans of Amsterdam's Concertgebouw.

Hailed as "outstanding" by The Strad, highlights of her 2007-08 season include Ms. Stumm's recital debut at the Kennedy Center on the Washington Performing Arts Society Series, appearances at the Wigmore Hall in London, Ravinia Festival's "Rising Stars Series" in Chicago and a performance of the Walton Viola Concerto with the New Haven Symphony.  She also embarks on a series of exciting collaborations for the BBC, including Britten's Lachrymae in Scotland and a festival of Russian music at the acclaimed Sage Gateshead in Newcastle, all for broadcast.

Recent appearances of note include debuts at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the famed "Grachten" Festival in Amsterdam, at the International Viola Congress in Montreal, the Kilkenny Festival in Ireland and performances with orchestra at Alice Tully Hall in New York and Bridgewater Hall in Manchester with Yan-Pascal Tortellier conducting.  Broadcast performances include those on the BBC as well as the Dutch, Irish and German National Radio Networks.

Jennifer Stumm is violist of the acclaimed London-based Aronowitz Ensemble, resident New Generation Artists at the BBC, and is a regular participant at the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove, both in Cornwall, England and on tour. Her collaborative partners have included members of the Beaux Arts Trio, Guarneri, Vermeer and Alban Berg Quartets, the period ensemble L'Archibudelli and pianist Christopher O'Riley.  She regularly performs at prominent festivals such as Marlboro, Verbier, Spoleto and Aldeburgh.  This season she organizes a "Jennifer Stumm and Friends" concert for Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music in New York.

A native of Atlanta, Jennifer Stumm began viola studies at the age of eight in her school's orchestra program and now devotes time to master classes and educational outreach with the hope that younger musicians will be similarly encouraged. Her principal teacher in Atlanta was Marilyn Seelman. Ms. Stumm holds a Bachelors of Music degree from Philadelphia's Curtis Institute as a student of Karen Tuttle and pursued interests in astronomy and politics at the University of Pennsylvania at the same time. Ms. Stumm also earned a Masters of Music degree at The Juilliard School. Currently, she divides her time between musical commitments in the U.S. and Europe, where her recent mentors have been violist Nobuko Imai and cellist Steven Isserlis.