Melissa Reardon
viola

Violist Melissa Reardon made her debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the age of thirteen and has been concertizing internationally ever since. She was a First Prize Winner at the Washington International Competition, and is the only violist to win top prizes in consecutive HAMS International Viola Competitions, including the prize for the "best performance of a newly commissioned piece." As a collaborative musician, Melissa has performed in numerous festivals across the US, Europe, India and Korea. She has performed with the Daedalus and Borromeo String Quartets, and with members of the Guarneri, Mendelssohn, Brentano, St. Lawrence and Shanghai quartets and the Beaux Arts Trio. In addition, she has performed at Bargemusic and with the Boston Chamber Music Society, the International Sejong Soloists, the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, and Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble. She has spent several summers at the Marlboro Music Festival, and has toured with Musicians from Marlboro in both the US and France. In May 2006, Melissa was chosen to participate in Chamber Music Connects the World with Gidon Kremer at the Kronberg Academy in Kronberg, Germany. While there, she performed with Yuri Bashmet, Menahem Pressler and Gidon Kremer.

Melissa has been a faculty member at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and Artist-in-Residence at the Interlochen Adult Chamber Music Festival. She is a founding member of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) and is Assistant Professor of Viola at East Carolina University. In addition, she performs internationally as a member of the acclaimed Enso String Quartet.

A native Northborough, MA, Melissa began violin studies at the age of four. At seven, she switched to viola and began studies on piano as well. Melissa received her BM from the Curtis Institute of Music, and her MM and GD from the New England Conservatory of Music. She received the prestigious Tourjee Award from the New England Conservatory following her third year of graduate study, in 2002. Melissa has studied with Kim Kashkashian, Michael Tree, Joseph dePasquale, Karen Tuttle, Samuel Rhodes, and Hsin-Yun Huang. She currently lives in New York, NY and Greenville, NC.