Jennifer Stumm, viola

First Prize, 2006 CAG Competition

www.jenniferstumm.com

Violist Jennifer Stumm is internationally recognized as a musical innovator and dynamic advocate for her instrument. Ms. Stumm is the winner of three major competitions: Concert Artists Guild in 2006, where she took First Prize as the first solo violist in the nearly 60-year history of the Competition; and the William Primrose and Geneva Competitions in 2005. Also in 2005, Ms. Stumm was honored with an award from the Vriendenkrans of Amsterdam's Concertgebouw.

Hailed as “outstanding” by The Strad, Ms. Stumm’s 2009-10 season highlights include her recital debut at New York’s Merkin Concert Hall, and guest appearances for Chamber Music of Schumann at Symphony Space’s Thalia Theatre in New York and at the Philadelphia Brahms Festival.  She also performs the Walton Concerto with the Brooklyn Symphony and she returns to Brooklyn’s Barbes Bar/Performance Space as part of CAG’s New Music/New Places series.

Ms. Stumm’s debut recording for Naxos’ Laureate Series is an album of works by Italian composer/violist Alessandro Rolla (1757-1841), who played a crucial role in the development of the viola as an important concert instrument.  Joined by pianist Connie Shih and violinist Liza Ferschtman, this CD is set for release in March 2011.  In 2007-08, she also embarked on a series of exciting collaborations for the BBC, including Britten's Lachrymae in Scotland and a festival of Russian music at the acclaimed Sage Gateshead in Newcastle, all for broadcast.  Previous broadcasts of her performances have been heard on the BBC as well as the Dutch, Irish and German National Radio Networks.

Recent appearances of note include debuts at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the famed “Grachten” Festival in Amsterdam, the Kennedy Center (on the Washington Performing Arts Society series), the Ravinia Festival's Rising Stars Series, the New York River to River Festival’s Summer Stars series and Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess series, as well as appearances at Wigmore Hall in London, the International Viola Congress (in Montreal and Arizona) and the Kilkenny Festival in Ireland.

As a concerto soloist, Ms. Stumm’s recent performances include the Walton Viola Concerto with the New Haven Symphony, and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with the Dupage (IL) and Bangor (ME) Symphonies (partnered with CAG violinist Michi Wiancko).  She has also performed with orchestra at New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall with Yan-Pascal Tortellier conducting.

Jennifer Stumm is violist of the acclaimed London-based Aronowitz Ensemble, resident New Generation Artists at the BBC, and is a regular participant at the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove, both in Cornwall, England and on tour. Her collaborative partners have included members of the Beaux Arts Trio, Guarneri, Vermeer and Alban Berg Quartets, the period ensemble L'Archibudelli and pianist Christopher O'Riley.  She regularly performs at prominent festivals such as Marlboro, Verbier, Spoleto and Aldeburgh.   In 2007-08, she also organized a "Jennifer Stumm and Friends" concert for Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music in New York.

A native of Atlanta, Jennifer Stumm began viola studies at the age of eight and now devotes time to master classes and educational outreach with the hope that younger musicians will be similarly encouraged. Her principal teacher in Atlanta was Marilyn Seelman. Ms. Stumm holds a Bachelors of Music degree from the Curtis Institute as a student of Karen Tuttle and pursued interests in astronomy and politics at the University of Pennsylvania at the same time. Ms. Stumm also earned a Masters of Music degree at The Juilliard School. Currently, she divides her time between musical commitments in the US and Europe, where her recent mentors have been violist Nobuko Imai and cellist Steven Isserlis.