He is a viola player born in Lexington, Kentucky, who was raised in Detroit, Michigan. He came from a musical family where his mother was a horn player for the Detroit Symphony during the 1940s and his father was also an orchestral musician. His twin brother, Darrel, was a viola player with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his nephew, Derek, has been a cellist with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
He received musical education from his parents and went on to take further studies at Wayne State University.
In 1961, while he was still a student, he became a member of the Detroit Symphony performing on the violin and viola. He stayed with them until 1965 and two years later became a violist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, where he has remained ever since.
Other ensembles he has performed with include the Boston Pops Orchestra, Collage New Music and the Francesco Quartet.
In August 2011 he performed in a series of Prelude concerts performed by members of the BSO and Fellows of Tanglewood and he was listed as a musician in the 2011-12 Community Chamber Music series performed at Northeastern University’s Fenway Center.
Performing on many recordings throughout his career he can be heard on America, Holiday Pops and A Splash of Pops by the Boston Pops Orchestra and Mozart: Quartets for Flute & Strings among countless others.
Sources:
- http://www.stokowski.org/Boston_Symphony_Musicians_List.htm
- http://www.grandorchestras.com/bostonpops/bpops_orchestra.html
- http://berkshireonstage.com/2011/08/11/tanglewood-week-seven-aug-19-25-christoph-von-dohnanyi-pops-film-night-more/
- http://don411.com/don411/blogs/entry/BOSTON-SYMPHONY-ORCHESTRA-ANNOUNCES-2011-12-COMMUNITY-CHAMBER-MUSIC-SERIES-BRINGING-16-FREE-PERFORMANCES-TO-GREATER-BOSTON-AREA
- http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=102623
- http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1132063
- http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Quartets-Flute-Strings/dp/B000009KYY/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1321537702&sr=1-3
- http://www.discogs.com/Boston-Pops-Orchestra-The-Keith-Lockhart-Holiday-Pops/release/2986856