Kenneth Martinson, assistant professor of Viola at University of Florida, received his M.M. (Viola Performance) from the Eastman School of Music (1994) as a student of Martha Katz, and his B.M. (Viola Performance/Music Composition) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1993), where he was a student of Yizhak Schotten. He is currently serving as President of the International Viola Society, and he is the founding President of the Florida Viola Society. He has also founded Gems Music Publications, a company devoted to promoting rare and previously out of print or unpublished viola scores to help broaden the available viola repertoire. Ken had an early success in becoming the principal violist of the Interlochen World Youth Symphony. He was formerly the violist of the Julstrom String Quartet, the Potsdam Piano Quartet, the Artaria Quartet of Boston, and the Rackham String Quartet and has taught at Western Illinois University, the Crane School of Music- SUNY Potsdam (Potsdam, NY) and Viterbo College (LaCrosse, WI). As a chamber musician, he has won numerous awards such as first prize at the Coleman, Carmel, MTNA, and Yellow Springs Competitions. He was also a winner of the 1993 Cleveland Quartet Competition as well as a prizewinner at the Bucchi International Competition (Rome) and the WAMSO Competition (Minneapolis), and was the winner of the 1995 Richardson Awards (Lansing, MI). Mr. Martinson has held principal chairs in the Orlando, Toledo, Peoria, Lansing, Dubuque, a ... view more »
Kenneth Martinson, assistant professor of Viola at University of Florida, received his M.M. (Viola Performance) from the Eastman School of Music (1994) as a student of Martha Katz, and his B.M. (Viola Performance/Music Composition) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1993), where he was a student of Yizhak Schotten. He is currently serving as President of the International Viola Society, and he is the founding President of the Florida Viola Society. He has also founded Gems Music Publications, a company devoted to promoting rare and previously out of print or unpublished viola scores to help broaden the available viola repertoire. Ken had an early success in becoming the principal violist of the Interlochen World Youth Symphony. He was formerly the violist of the Julstrom String Quartet, the Potsdam Piano Quartet, the Artaria Quartet of Boston, and the Rackham String Quartet and has taught at Western Illinois University, the Crane School of Music- SUNY Potsdam (Potsdam, NY) and Viterbo College (LaCrosse, WI). As a chamber musician, he has won numerous awards such as first prize at the Coleman, Carmel, MTNA, and Yellow Springs Competitions. He was also a winner of the 1993 Cleveland Quartet Competition as well as a prizewinner at the Bucchi International Competition (Rome) and the WAMSO Competition (Minneapolis), and was the winner of the 1995 Richardson Awards (Lansing, MI). Mr. Martinson has held principal chairs in the Orlando, Toledo, Peoria, Lansing, Dubuque, and Santa Cruz Symphonies. Ken is a frequent recitalist and has performed intensely challenging programs such as the 4 solo sonatas of Paul Hindemith, and the complete sonatas of Darius Milhaud, also on his CD released by Centaur Records [CRC 2479]. He also has two other discs released by Centaur; viola chamber music of Rebecca Clarke [CRC 2847], and Bohuslav Martin? [CRC 2852]. His article “The Viola Music of Milhaud” was published by the American Viola Society Journal, vol. 15, no. 1. Mr. Martinson has been serving as an assistant editor of the Journal for the American Viola Society where he has his own column for reviewing new viola compositions and publications. The Toledo Blade has described his sound as being “rich and tawny, and one would like to hear it even more”. Ken has performed throughout the United States and Canada as well as Brazil, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Russia, South Africa, and Switzerland, and was a featured guest artist at the 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010 International Viola Congresses.
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