We are incredibly fortunate to have Toby Appel joining us for Viola Day this year! He is a renowned performer and faculty at The Juilliard School for more than 30 years. Fun fact – he is also a fantastic chef! Dr. Appel will be teaching a masterclass and performing a recital along with Rieko Tschuchida, piano, and the Fry Street Quartet. 

Toby Appel was born in Elmer, N.J., and was a winner of Young Concert Artists and has appeared throughout the U.S. and abroad as a recitalist, concerto soloist, and chamber musician. He was a former member of the Lenox, Audubon, and Tashi quartets and has appeared at the Angel Fire, Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, Chamber Music Northwest, Ravinia, Santa Fe, Seattle, and Great Mountains (Korea) festivals among others.

Appel is a frequent commentator for National Public Radio’s Performance Today program and he has recorded on the Columbia, Musical Heritage, Delos, Desto, Opus 1, and Koch International labels. He was formerly on the faculty of the State University of New York—Binghamton, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, University of New Mexico—Albuquerque, and Carnegie Mellon University. He trained at the Curtis Institute of Music with Max Aronoff and Joseph DePasquale and has been on the college faculty at Juilliard since 1990 and on the school’s Pre-College faculty since 1999.

Check out these YouTube videos to hear Dr. Appel’s incredible playing in the Turina piano sextet (the same piece that will be played at the viola day recital!), and to watch him cook an amazing meal while discussing the connection between food and music. Also be sure Viola Day is marked in your calendar for November 18, 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.