John Largess
viola
Violist John Largess began his studies in Boston at age 12 in the public schools, studying with Michael Zaretsky of the Boston Symphony, and later as a student of Michael Tree at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. In 1995, he graduated from Yale University to join the Colorado String Quartet as interim violist. He toured the United States and Canada with the quartet, teaching and concertizing. The following year, Mr. Largess was appointed Principal Violist of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina, a position he held until joining the Miró Quartet to take part in the Eighth International String Quartet Competition at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada, in 1997. Also an active speaker and writer about all things chamber-musical, he was invited to give a week-long audience lecture series at the Banff Competition in 2004; he repeated this series in 2007 and again in 2010.
With his training in Greek and Latin literature and his Bachelor’s degree in archeology from Yale University, as well as studies at the Hebrew University in Israel, Mr. Largess has participated in excavations in Greece, Israel, and Jordan. He loves to cook gourmet cuisine, particularly French pastry and fine desserts; luckily, he also enjoys exercising. Mr. Largess is a trained yoga instructor, having studied Vinyasa Power Yoga with Baron Baptiste. He also practices Kundalini, Bikram, and Astanga styles, and he teaches yoga at 24 Hour Fitness and the Bodhi Yoga studio in Austin, Texas, where he lives. When not standing on his head, he enjoys making his Tibetan Singing Bowl sing.
Mr. Largess serves as Senior Lecturer and Coordinator of String Chamber Music at the University of Texas at Austin Butler School of Music.