Emad Zolfaghari
Canadian violist Emad Zolfaghari came to international attention after winning the first prize and audience prize at the 2024 Primrose International Viola Competition. Emad was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music at age 16, where he currently studies with Hsin-Yun Huang. Other major competition prizes include winning the Klein, ArsClassica, Morningside Music Bridge, Johansen, Tokyo and the OSM international competitions. He also was awarded Charlotte White’s Salon de Virtuosi Career grant in 2024, and was listed as one of CBC Music’s 30 under 30 Hot Classical Musicians.
Solo appearances include the Tokyo Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre Métropolitain under the baton of Yannick Nezet-Seguin, National Philharmonic, Oakville Chamber Orchestra, Peninsula Symphony and more.
Emad continues to perform at renowned music festivals, such as Marlboro, ChamberFest Cleveland, ChamberFest West, Four Seasons and Music in the Vineyards, among others. He has toured with Morningside Music Bridge, Curtis on Tour, and will tour with Marlboro in 2027.
Emad currently plays on a fine 1700 Matteo Goffriller viola on generous loan from the Rachel Barton Pine Foundation, and a Eugène Sartory bow from CANIMEX, inc. His studies are generously supported by a Sylva Gelber Foundation award.
