Phillip Stevens, Viola
Violist Phillip Stevens is currently a member of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and is Affiliate Professor of Viola at Metropolitan State University of Denver. In addition to joining the Colorado Symphony in 1996, he has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic, the Ann Arbor Symphony, and the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra. He also teaches privately, and is active in educating youth through the programs of the Colorado Symphony, Friends of Chamber Music, and Up Close and Musical, where he serves as Personnel Manager.
Stevens formally began his musical education in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, went on to receive his Bachelor's degree at the University of Michigan studying with Yitzhak Schotten, and completed graduate work at Northwestern University under Peter Slowik. During this time, he won first prize in the Viola division of the 1994 National ASTA Music Competition, and spent his summers studying at the Aspen Music Festival.
Chamber music is a major part of Stevens’s career, being a founding member of Sheridan Chamber Players while in Chicago, and currently with the Ivy Street Ensemble in Denver. In addition to the busy concert schedule, CD recordings, and radio broadcasts, he frequently participates during the summer at the Chintimini Chamber Music Festival in Corvallis, Oregon, and the Off the Hook Arts Summerfest in Ft. Collins, including performances with the Miami String Quartet. He has performed in recital at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall as part of the DCINY Distinguished Concert Artist Series, and he is a regular at the Lone Tree Arts Center Arts in the Afternoon Series and with the Front Range Chamber Players. Stevens also serves as an artistic director of the Chamber Music at the Mansion series at the Highlands Ranch Mansion.