Violist Eivind Ringstad Appointed as Professor at Royal College of Music

The Norwegian violist is also Principal Viola of the London Symphony Orchestra

Violist Eivind Ringstad will join the faculty at London's Royal College of Music (RCM). Originally a violinist, Ringstad switched to the viola at the age of 14. He then studied at Norway's Barratt Due Music Institute in Oslo with Soon-Mi Chung Barratt-Due — while also taking part in masterclasses with players such as Lars Anders Tomter, Maxim Rysanov, Lawrence Power, Nobuko Imai, Hartmut Rhode, Thomas Riebl, Ivry Gitlis, and Dora Schwarzberg.

Ringstad's professional life began in earnest when he won the Eurovision Young Musicians Competition in 2012, where his final performance was heard by an audience of 40,000 and broadcast across Europe. Soon afterwards, he was named as a BBC New Generation Artist, received a fellowship from the Borletti Buitoni Trust, and took part in Crescendo, a mentoring program for Scandinavian musicians.

Following his solo debut with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in 2013, Ringstad has appeared as a soloist with the Bergen Philharmonic, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Vienna Radio Orchestra, Lahti and Kuopio Symphony Orchestras, Trondheim, Kristiansand and Stavanger Symphony orchestras, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, and many of the BBC orchestras.

On recording, Ringstad can be heard playing the Walton Viola Concerto (Lawo Classics) and the Ståle Kleiberg Viola Concerto (2L), as well as on his own disc Correspondances with German pianist David Meier (Rubicon Classics).

Ringstad, who is just 30 years old, was appointed as Principal Viola of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) earlier in 2024.

He is also co-artistic director for Norsjø Chamber Music Festival, held each year in Telemark, Norway.

Ringstad plays on the 1796 "Conte Vitale" Guarneri viola, which is on loan to him from Dextra Musica.