The string section of the National Philharmonic is spotlighted this weekend on Strathmore’s stage under the leadership of Piotr Gajewski. Violist Victoria Chiang and National Symphony Orchestra Concert Master Nurit Bar-Josef team up to perform Mozart’s “Sinfonia Concertante,” one of the gems of the viola repertoire.
“The viola is a real specialty,” said Chiang in reference to her instrument of choice in both professional performance and as a faculty member at Baltimore’s Peabody Conservatory, where she serves as coordinator of the Viola Department. “There is the sound production and the size of the instrument, [both] very different from the violin. In a musical way, I was much more comfortable playing the inner voices [of the viola] and not being the standout person in charge.”
