Paul Hersh

A native of New York, Paul Hersh has played both the piano and viola since he was six years old. He studied viola with William Primrose and piano with Leonard Shure and Edward Steuermann. From 1961 to 1971 he was violist and pianist with the Lenox Quartet, and he made his piano debut at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1964. Mr. Hersh has performed with many orchestras, including the Boston and San Francisco Symphonies and the New York Philharmonic, as well as in chamber groups and solo recitals.

Hersh, who attended Yale University, is a former faculty member of Grinnell College and SUNY at Binghamton, and has been artist-in-residence and visiting faculty at numerous universities and festivals, including the University of California at Davis, Temple University, Oregon State University, University of Western Washington, Berkshire (now Tanglewood) Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and the Spoleto (Italy) Festival.

He has recorded for RCA, CRI, Desto, Orion, Dover and Arch Street labels, and is currently a member of the piano and viola faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he also teaches poetry and literature.