Happy Birthday, Atar Arad!

The Israeli violist and composer is 79 today

Born in Tel Aviv in 1945, Arad left Israel in 1968 to further his musical education at Belgium's Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth, after he received a scholarship funded by the Belgian royal family. Up until the end of his studies there, the violin was his principal instrument, but in 1971 he made the switch to the viola on account of its rich tone.

His first public appearance on the new instrument was in the 1972 Carl Flesch Competition in London, where he was a laureate and the winner of the City of London Prize. The same year he also won the International Viola Competition in Geneva, following a unanimous jury decision.

Over the course of his career, Arad has performed worldwide as a recitalist and as a soloist with major orchestras. He has also had a flourishing chamber music career, playing for seven years as a member of the Cleveland Quartet.

Arad came to composition later in life, and his works have included a solo viola sonata, two string quartets, and a viola concerto. In addition, Arad has played his own Twelve Caprices for Viola on concert tours of the United States, Canada, Israel, and Europe.

An avid pedagogue alongside his performing career, Arad currently serves as a professor of music in viola at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music.

You can listen to Arad performing his own Chaconne for Solo Viola below.