Aloysia Friedmann

Founder and Artistic Director
violin, viola

Aloysia Friedmann is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival in Washington State, now in its 29th Season. Ms. Friedmann continues to reinvent the role of a modern performer in the music world. Chamber Music America recognized her artistic leadership with its 2008 CMAcclaim Award and invited her to its national Board in 2016. In December of 2018, she was named a Musical America Top Professional of the Year.

While living in New York City, Ms. Friedmann performed with New York’s most prestigious musical ensembles, including the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and American Symphony Orchestra, and was concertmaster of The Fairfield Orchestra. She gave her Carnegie Recital Hall debut and was praised by the New York Times for her “fiery spirit.” Her many Broadway credits include an onstage role alongside Dustin Hoffman in The Merchant of Venice, as well as hundreds of performances of Crazy for You, Candide, and A Christmas Carol, and appearances in many other shows, including Metallica at Madison Square Garden. A versatile artist, Ms. Friedmann also appeared on several Live from Lincoln Center productions, including a memorable one with Jessye Norman, and on a Saturday Night Live episode with Luciano Pavarotti.

In Houston, Ms. Friedmann is Associate Concertmaster of ROCO and has served on the Advisory Council for Chamber Music Houston. Highlights of concerts in Houston include her solo viola performance of Morton Feldman’s Rothko Chapel in the chapel itself. A former member of the Houston Grand Opera orchestra, she now frequently performs with the Houston Symphony in their main concert series programs. She has taught as an Affiliate Artist of Viola and Violin at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston and has coached at Rice University. Ms. Friedmann has also been a guest artist at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas in Austin, giving masterclasses, speaking, and performing with the Miró Quartet. In 2022, she played for “The Who Hits Back!” tour in Houston and performed with the Olmos Ensemble in San Antonio.

Aloysia played on The Eagles “Hotel California” 2023 tour in San Diego, where she is also a founding member of the Mainly Mozart Festival and a regular guest in the San Diego Symphony. She has toured the Pacific Northwest, Vietnam, and France with pianist Jon Kimura Parker. They also appeared on KING-FM Rhine and Danube River Cruises with Earthbound Expeditions. Ms. Friedmann was the guest soloist in a Benaroya Hall performance of the Handel-Casadesus Viola Concerto conducted by Adam Stern, and she also appeared with Frederica von Stade in the 25th Anniversary Gala of the Noe Valley Chamber Music Series in the world première of Meditation by Jake Heggie. Recently, she gave concerts on another Earthbound Expeditions cruise on the Seine River from Paris to Normandy, spoke at the Chamber Music America conference, and appeared on the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta.

Ms. Friedmann has performed at the Seattle Chamber Music Society and festivals in Hong Kong, Ottawa, Portland, Napa Valley, Reno, Maui, San Antonio, Sarasota, and Santa Fe. Her chamber music colleagues have included the Montrose Trio, the New Orford Quartet, Peter Schickele, Gary Hoffman, Jeffrey Kahane, the Miró Quartet, Cho-Liang Lin, Chee-Yun, Alisa Weilerstein, Gabriel Kahane, and Lynn Harrell. Versatile offstage as well, Ms. Friedmann has produced recordings for artists including Viktor Valkov, Lachezar Kostov, Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio, Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, and Jon Kimura Parker.

Ms. Friedmann studied with Emanuel Zetlin at the University of Washington and with Margaret Pardee and Ivan Galamian at The Juilliard School. She plays on a Grancino violin and the ex-Rebecca Clarke Grancino viola, both made in Milan in the late 1600s.

Ms. Friedmann is married to concert pianist Jon Kimura “Jackie” Parker, and their daughter, Sophie, is a graduate of Rice University. She enjoys eating great meals with her family, especially sushi, loves traveling, and walking their dog, Ricky. For additional information, please visit aloysiafriedmann.com.