Bruch, Mozart, and Schumann

A violist of international reputation, Roberto Díaz is president and CEO of the Curtis Institute of Music, following in the footsteps of renowned soloist/directors such as Josef Hofmann, Efrem Zimbalist, and Rudolf Serkin. As a teacher of viola at Curtis and former principal viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Mr. Díaz has already had a significant impact on American musical life and continues to do so in his dual roles as performer and educator.

As a soloist, Mr. Díaz collaborates with leading conductors of our time on stages throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia. He has also worked directly with important 20th- and 21st-century composers, including Krzysztof Penderecki—whose viola concerto he has performed many times with the composer on the podium and whose double concerto he premiered in the United States—as well as Edison Denisov, Jennifer Higdon, Ricardo Lorenz, Bright Sheng, and Roberto Sierra. His recording of Jennifer Higdon’s Viola Concerto won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2018.

As a frequent recitalist, Mr. Díaz enjoys collaborating with young pianists, bringing a fresh approach to the repertoire and providing invaluable opportunities to artists at the beginnings of their careers. In addition to performing with major string quartets and pianists in chamber music series and festivals worldwide, Mr. Díaz has toured Europe, Asia, and the Americas as a member of the Díaz Trio with violinist Andrés Cárdenes and cellist Andrés Díaz. The Díaz Trio has recorded for the Artek and Dorian labels.

Mr. Díaz’s recordings on the Naxos label with pianist Robert Koenig include the complete works for viola and piano by Henri Vieuxtemps and a Grammy-nominated disc of viola transcriptions by William Primrose. Also on Naxos are Brahms sonatas with pianist Jeremy Denk and Jonathan Leshnoff’s Double Concerto with violinist Charles Wetherbee and the Iris Chamber Orchestra led by Michael Stern. Mr. Díaz’s live performance of Jacob Druckman’s Viola Concerto with Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Philadelphia Orchestra is available on New World Records. He has also recorded the Walton Viola Concerto with William Boughton and the New Haven Symphony for Nimbus Records, and works for viola and orchestra by Peter Lieberson with Scott Yoo and the Odense Symphony Orchestra and for Bridge Records.

Since founding Curtis on Tour in 2007, Mr. Díaz has taken this successful initiative to North and South America, Europe, and Asia, performing chamber music side-by-side with Curtis students and other faculty and alumni of the school. His tenure as president of Curtis has also seen the construction of a significant new building which doubled the size of the school’s campus; the introduction of a classical guitar department and new conducting and string quartet programs; and the launch of Curtis Summerfest, summer courses open to the public. In the fall of 2013 Curtis became the first classical music conservatory to offer free online classes through Coursera.

Also under Mr. Díaz’s leadership, Curtis has developed lasting collaborations with other music and arts institutions in Philadelphia and throughout the world and established a dynamic social entrepreneurship curriculum, supported by a prestigious Advancement Grant from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Designed to develop the entrepreneurial and advocacy skills of young musicians, this curriculum includes the project-based Community Artist Program (CAP) and the post-graduate Community Artist Fellowship program, which gives recent Curtis graduates the opportunity to dedicate a year of arts-based service to the community.

Mr. Díaz received an honorary doctorate from Bowdoin College and was awarded an honorary membership by the National Board of the American Viola Society. In 2013 he became a member of the prestigious American Philosophical Society founded by Benjamin Franklin. As a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra, he was selected by then-music director Christoph Eschenbach to receive the C. Hartman Kuhn Award, given annually to “the member of the Philadelphia Orchestra who has shown ability and enterprise of such character as to enhance the standards and the reputation of the Philadelphia Orchestra.” He received a bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Burton Fine; and a diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, where his teacher was his predecessor at the Philadelphia Orchestra, Joseph de Pasquale. Mr. Díaz also holds a degree in industrial design.

In addition to his decade-long tenure as principal viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he performed the entire standard viola concerto repertoire and gave a number of Philadelphia Orchestra premieres, Mr. Díaz was principal viola of the National Symphony under Mstislav Rostropovich, a member of the Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa, and a member of the Minnesota Orchestra under Sir Neville Marriner. He plays the ex-Primrose Amati viola.

The multi-award-winning Spanish clarinetist Jose Franch-Ballester (FrAHnk Bai-yess-TAIR) is considered one of the finest classical soloists and chamber music artists of his generation. He has been hailed for his “technical wizardry and tireless enthusiasm” (The New York Times), his “rich, resonant tone” (Birmingham News), and his “subtle and consummate artistry” (Santa Barbara Independent). The recipient of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2008, and winner of both the Young Concert Artists and Astral Artists auditions, he is a solo artist and chamber musician in great demand.

As a concerto soloist Mr. Franch-Ballester made his New York debut in 2006 with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Lincoln Center. He has also performed with the BBC Concert Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic, Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, and various orchestras in his native Spain.

Mr. Franch-Ballester made his New York recital debut at the 92nd Street Y, and has appeared in recital at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Iowa State University, the Buffalo Chamber Music Society, and the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. He performs regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center both in New York City and on tour, and also acts as principal clarinet of the Santa Barbara-based chamber music collective Camerata Pacifica.

U.S. festival appearances include the Saratoga Chamber Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Mainly Mozart, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire, Chamber Music Northwest, and Skaneateles Festival. Abroad, Mr. Franch-Ballester has appeared at the Usedomer Musikfestival in Germany, the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, the Cartagena Festival Internacional de Música in Colombia, the Kon-Tiki Festival in Norway, and the Young Concert Artists Festival in Tokyo.

Mr. Franch-Ballester is artistic director of miXt, an ensemble of award-winning soloists from the Young Concert Artists roster that he founded in the 2012-13 season. Performing in a variety of configurations, miXt made its New York and Washington debuts in YCA’s series at Merkin Hall and the Kennedy Center. His instrumental collaborators have also included the American, St. Lawrence, Jupiter, and Modigliani string quartets.

An avid proponent of new music, he performed the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s Winter Roses in 2004 with mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade at Camerata Pacifica. During the 2011-2012 season, he premiered two new works by Spanish composers: the II Concerto by Oscar Navarro, with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias in Oviedo, Spain; and Concerto Valencia by Andrés Valero-Castells, with the Orquesta de Valencia. Mr. Franch-Ballester’s commitment to new music has led him to commission and work with such contemporary composers as Kenji Bunch, Paul Schoenfield, Edgar Meyer, William Bolcom, George Tsontakis, Andrés Valero-Castells, Oscar Navarro, and Huang Ruo. He has also been a dedicated music educator, developing new audiences through countless educational concerts and workshops for young people and community audiences.

Performing regularly in Spain, Mr. Franch-Ballester has appeared with the Orquesta de Radio y Television Española, Orquesta de Valencia, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, and Orquesta Sinfónica del Valles. He is the founder of Jose Franch-Ballester & i amics (and friends), a series of concerts in which young musicians from all over the world are presented in Mr. Franch-Ballester’s hometown of Moncofa and throughout the Valencia area.

Mr. Franch-Ballester’s recordings include a Deutsche Grammophon CD of Bartók’s Contrasts with members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In 2010 he was awarded the Midem Prize for “Outstanding Young Artist,” which aims to introduce currently unsigned recording stars of the future to the classical recording industry. “Jose Franch-Ballester & Friends,” a CD of chamber music released by iTinerant Classics in 2011, includes the premiere recording of Oscar Navarro’s Creation and works by Brahms, Stravinsky, and Paul Schoenfield. Mr. Franch-Ballester can also be heard on “Piazzolla Masterworks,” a CD recorded with cellist Young Song and pianist Pablo Zinger that contains works by Astor Piazzolla.

Born in Moncofa into a family of clarinetists and Zarzuela singers, Jose Franch-Ballester began clarinet lessons at the age of nine with Venancio Rius, and graduated from the Joaquin Rodrigo Music Conservatory in Valencia. In 2005 he earned a bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied with Donald Montanaro. Mr. Franch-Ballester’s mentors also include Ricardo Morales, principal clarinet in the Philadelphia Orchestra.