Violist Marcus Thompson has appeared as a viola and viola d’amore soloist with many of this country’s leading orchestras. Performance highlights include Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with Yehudi Menuhin and the Chicago Symphony, as well as performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic and the New Orchestra of Washington. Thompson has been a member of the viola faculty at the New England Conservatory for more than three decades, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for more than four and Artistic Director of the Boston Chamber Music Society for ten years. Thompson will collaborate with School of Music Piano Professor Rita Sloan to play a varied and compelling program of works for viola and piano.

Masterful Strings is a lively series of masterclasses, discussions and performances that feature renowned string artists sharing their artistry in string pedagogy and performance. Masterful Strings is funded in part by the Tretter Distinguished Faculty Fellowship in Violin and the Barbara K. Steppel Memorial Faculty Fellowship in Cello.