Teton House Concert: Stradivarius Spotlighted

Susan Gulkis Assadi enjoys a varied career as an orchestral player, chamber musician, soloist and teacher. She was the Principal Violist of the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera for thirty-two seasons, beginning in 1992. Initially playing with numerous chamber orchestras, including The Brandenburg Ensemble, Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia and the European-based New American Chamber Orchestra, she began her orchestral career as the Principal Violist of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra before coming to Seattle.

Hailed by the Seattle Post Intelligencer for her “uncommon warmth and beauty of timbre,” Gulkis Assadi often appeared as soloist with the Seattle Symphony. In 1998, she helped inaugurate Seattle’s Benaroya Hall with Yo-Yo Ma in the Orchestra’s performance of Strauss’ Don Quixote. David Stock wrote his Viola Concerto for Gulkis Assadi and the Seattle Symphony, which was released spring 2004 on Innova Records to critical acclaim. In June 2006, Gulkis Assadi played the west coast premiere of Paul Schoenfield’s Viola Concerto. Most recent solo performances include Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto (for viola), Dittersdorf’s Sinfonia Concertante for Viola and Double Bass, Berlioz’s Harold in Italy and Flos Campi by Vaughan Williams.

Gulkis Assadi also performs regularly with the Seattle-based Music of Remembrance and The Governor’s Chamber Music Series. She has happily spent the last twenty-nine summers performing with the Grand Teton Music Festival. She has coached and given master classes at the Seattle Chamber Music Society Academy for Chamber Music, University of Washington, the New World Symphony in Miami, Florida and the National Orchestral Institute in College Park, Maryland.