Whether leading the viola section of a German Youth Orchestra through a concert of Brahms in Istanbul, Turkey or leading a hundred teenagers through a discussion of the joys of new music at a charter school in LA, violist John Stulz (b. 1988) is quickly becoming recognized as a passionate ambassador for his art.
Whether leading the viola section of a German Youth Orchestra through a concert of Brahms in Istanbul, Turkey or leading a hundred teenagers through a discussion of the joys of new music at a charter school in LA, violist John Stulz (b. 1988) is quickly becoming recognized as a passionate ambassador for his art.
John regularly gives performances by the leading composers of our time both as a soloist and as a founding member of What’s Next? Ensemble in Los Angeles. Highlights include the West Coast Premiere of Elliot Carter’s Figment IV for solo viola, a performance with Steven Mackey of Physical Property for string quartet and electric guitar, as well as the opportunity to work closely with composers and performers as diverse as Pierre Boulez, George Benjamin, Steve Reich, and members of the Ensembles Intercontemporaine and Modern. In 2011, John studied contemporary European music intensively under the tutelage of Garth Knox, former violist of the Arditti Quartet and Ensemble Intercontemporaine.
With his friend Vimbayi Kaziboni, John helped create the What’s Next? Ensemble and the Los Angeles Composers Project, an annual festival devoted to presenting music by Los Angeles Composers. To date their initiative has brought together over eighty musicians to perform the work of thirty-five local composers, winning wide recognition from institutions ranging from KUSC Radio in Los Angeles and the American Composers Forum.
As an orchestral musician, John has served as principal violist of the USC Thornton Symphony Orchestera, Music Academy of the West Festival Orchestra, New England Conservatory Philharmonia, and the Shleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra in Germany. With the later group he has toured across Germany and Europe under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach including performances in Krakow, Prague, Budapest, Istanbul, Grenada, Hamburg and Wiesbaden. In 2008, John made his solo debut playing the Walton Viola Concerto with the Music Academy of the West Festival Orchestra.
In 2010, John Graduated cum laude from the University of Southern California where he studied viola with Donald McInnes and served as a member of the contemporary music ensemble for four years under the direction of Donald Crockett. Additionally, John played for two years in a string quartet with Professor Midori Goto and studied composition privately with Erica Muhl and Veronika Krausas. He is currently living in Boston where he is pursuing his masters degree at the New England Conservatory of music studying under Kim Kashkashian.