Australian violist Stephen King performed with the Australian String Quartet from 2012-21. Prior to this, he was a member of the Australian Chamber Orchestra for nine years. He has performed and recorded with a large array of musicians in diverse venues and festivals around Australia and the world. With the ASQ, Stephen developed projects with First Nations artists, new Australian commissions and recordings, and innovative cross-artform and digital collaborations. As the ACO’s education representative, he played a major role in founding and building the Emerging Artists program and ACO2.
Growing up in Canberra, Stephen learned the violin but fell for the darker world of the viola following the inspiring teaching of Elizabeth Morgan. He completed his studies in the USA with James Dunham (Cleveland Quartet), Kathy Murdock (Mendelssohn Quartet) and Michael Tree (Guarneri Quartet). From 1997 Stephen was violist of the Coolidge String Quartet based in Washington D.C. He holds a Doctorate in Chamber Music, having worked closely with the Emerson and Guarneri Quartets.
While overseas, Stephen was also the Associate Principal Viola of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and a member of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. He was on the faculty of the New England Conservatory Prep Division in Boston and the ASTA Workshops. Recently Stephen has been a regular guest principal of the TSO and plays with AWO and is looking forward to performing with the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra in 2023. Stephen teaches viola and chamber music at the University of Adelaide, Elder Conservatorium and regularly tutors at AYO National Music Camp.
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