Dr. Brett Walfish
Dr. Brett Walfish is a violist, chamber musician, and teacher recognized for a warm, richly colored sound and a career spanning international performance halls, historically informed ensembles, and a devoted private studio. Now based in South Florida, he continues to perform internationally while building a teaching studio for violin and viola students of every level.
Biography
Dr. Brett Walfish has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Ireland, Italy, Israel, and internationally, in venues including the Tel Aviv Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the National Music Museum, the historic Blackfriars Theatre, the University of Chicago, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Flagler Museum, and Mount Rushmore, as well as major chamber music series across the United States and Canada. Conductor David Effron has praised his warm sound, full of a “myriad of colors.”
He is a core member of the Valencia Baryton Project, a historically informed ensemble centered on the rare baryton and Haydn’s baryton trios, performing in traditional trio format and expanded chamber configurations. Dr. Walfish contributes to the ensemble’s artistic planning, programming, and stylistic interpretation, and the group recently released their third Naxos recording of Haydn’s baryton trios.
Dr. Walfish is Co-Founder and Executive Director Emeritus of the Rushmore Music Festival, a tuition-free summer program for pre-college and college musicians. He raised more than $550,000 in competitive grants and private funding while helping grow the program into a nationally respected six-week chamber music training program.
A devoted teacher of violin, viola, and chamber music since 2010, with a full private studio since 2013, Dr. Walfish has guided students from approximately age five through graduate-level, pre-professional study, including conservatory and college audition preparation. His students have been admitted to Juilliard, New England Conservatory, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, Harvard, Brown, and Cornell. He has led masterclasses and outreach throughout the United States and Canada, and now teaches in South Florida.
Education
- DMA in Viola Performance, Stony Brook University
- MM in Viola Performance, New England Conservatory
- Graduate Diploma in Viola Performance, New England Conservatory
- BM in Viola Performance, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
Primary Teachers & Mentors
- Lawrence Dutton of the Emerson String Quartet
- Nicholas Cords of Brooklyn Rider
- Martha Strongin Katz of the Cleveland Quartet
- Atar Arad of the Cleveland Quartet
- Borromeo Quartet
- Emerson String Quartet
Dr. Walfish's students have been accepted to:
- Juilliard
- New England Conservatory
- Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
- Manhattan School of Music
- Cleveland Institute of Music
- Harvard University
- Brown University
- Cornell University
- Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University
Pedagogy Training
- Suzuki Books 1–8 long-term teacher training, The School for Strings, New York City
- Violin pedagogy with Mimi Zweig and Brenda Brenner, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
- Dalcroze Eurhythmics, Lucy Moses School
Rushmore Music Festival
Co-Founder and former Executive Director of the Rushmore Music Festival, a tuition-free summer program for pre-college and college musicians. Dr. Walfish raised more than $550,000 in competitive grants and private funding while helping grow the program into a nationally respected six-week chamber music training program.
South Florida Outreach
Dr. Walfish has led masterclasses and outreach at schools and programs throughout Florida, including:
- Coral Reef High School
- Dillard Center for the Arts
- Florida Youth Orchestra
- Pine Crest School
- Sawgrass Springs Middle School
- North Andrews Elementary School