Sharon Wei
Canadian violist Sharon Wei is a dynamic and varied musician, establishing herself as one of the most respected violists on the scene today. Sharon has been the recipient of grants through the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and has toured under the auspices of Debut Atlantic and Prairie Debut. She has been guest principal violist of the Cincinnati Symphony, Canadian Opera Company, and Ensemble Matheus in Paris. Sharon has performed chamber music with musicians including Claude Frank, Joseph Silverstein, Scott St John, Erika Raum, Joel Quarrington, and James Campbell. She appears regularly at festivals such as Verbier, Marlboro Music, Banff, Festival of the Sound, Chamberfest and Ravinia. She has been on faculty at Curtis Summerfest, Tuckamore Festival, Port Milford and at Scotiafestival of Music.
Sharon co-founded Ensemble Made in Canada, winner of a CBC rising stars award, EMIC has performed and taught across Canada. They are strong advocates of new music and have premiered works by John Burge, Christopher Mayo, John B Hedges, and Omar Daniel.
Sharon was on faculty at Yale and Stanford University and is currently Assistant Professor at Western University. She has created a course for performance majors in which students learn off-stage initiatives such as networking, grant writing, website design, and managing finances. Rare time away from the viola is spent on hot yoga (done in 15 cities and counting), hiking, playing Settlers of Catan, and seeking out macaron shops."
