Melissa Matson is a versatile chamber musician and the principal violist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. She is Artistic Director of First Muse Chamber Music (an annual series of concerts at First Unitarian Church in Rochester NY), and is a frequent performer with Chamber Music Rochester and the Skaneateles Festival (NY). She is a founding member of the Amenda Quartet, whose acclaimed 2015-16 “Project Ludwig” performed the complete string quartets of Beethoven in the Rochester area. Her solo appearances with the RPO include Berlioz’s Harold in Italy (with conductor Andreas Delfs) and two performances of Mozart’s Sinfonie Concertante (with violinists Juliana Athayde and David Brickman).
Before joining the RPO in 1983, Melissa performed throughout the U.S. as a founding member of the Chester String Quartet (along with Susan Freier), top prize winners at the Munich and Portsmouth (England) international competitions. Originally from Chico, California, she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Eastman, where she studied with Martha Katz and was awarded the coveted Performer’s Certificate. Aside from teaching orchestral excerpts at Eastman, she devotes her extra time to the visual arts – including dyeing artisan fabrics.