Chauncey Patterson

Chauncey Patterson is principal violist for Palm Beach Symphony, solo violist for Florida Grand Opera, violist for the Bergonzi String Quartet at the University of Miami, and member of the Nu Deco Ensemble. He has been principal violist of the Denver and Buffalo Symphonies and, for 15 years, was the violist with the Miami String Quartet, an internationally renowned and extensively recorded ensemble.

Patterson started playing the viola at age seven in the public school system of Burlington, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Curtis Institute, where he studied with Ann Woodward, Robert Vernon, Karen Tuttle, and Michael Tree respectively. He began his professional career at age 23 as assistant principal viola of the Denver Symphony. He was eventually appointed principal viola by Music Director Philippe Entremont. His next post was principal viola of the Buffalo Philharmonic under the direction of Semyon Bychkov. During his stay in Buffalo, Patterson accepted the viola position in the award-winning Miami String Quartet. During his 15-year tenure, the MSQ garnered awards in the quartet competitions of London and Evian and became the first string quartet to win the Concert Artist Guild New York Competition. The quartet recorded a number of CD’s, most notably, The Ginastera Quartets, The Quartets of Pēteris Vasks, and The Saint-Saens and Faure String Quartets for the BMG Conifer label. The MSQ toured the U.S. extensively, playing at virtually every high-profile venue, including Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Hollywood Bowl. International performances (both with and without the MSQ) have taken Patterson to Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, Barbados, Panama, Brazil, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, England, and the Netherlands.

Mr. Patterson has shared the chamber music stage with such distinguished artists as: Gil Shaham, Garrick Ohlsson, Cho-Liang Lin, Robert Chen, Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Paul Neubauer, Aaron Rosand, Menahem Pressler, Peter Wiley, Andre-Michel Schub, Bill Preucil, Ida Kavafian, Lynn Harrell, Arto Noras, Mark Johnson, Eugene Druckman, and Robert Vernon. Following his tenure with the MSQ, Patterson served as interim violist of the world-renowned Fine Arts Quartet. Education has been a major component of Patterson’s career.

His faculty affiliations include: The Cleveland Institute of Music, Blossom School of Music, Kent State University, Hartt School of Music, Encore School for Strings, Eastern Music Festival, University of Charleston (W.V.), University of Denver, New World School of the Arts, Florida International University, the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, and the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. Patterson currently lives in Miami, Florida.