Massimo Paris
Born in Rome, Massimo Paris is a multifaceted artist, a viola and viola d’amore soloist as well as a composer, conductor, educator.
He is one of the foremost violists of our time.
“Massimo Paris is without doubt the best violists ever heard. The beauty of his sound is unsurpassed and his virtuosity is superb” (Diapason – RC Travers).
“M. Paris was energetic, precise and refined. With a polished sound and magnificent, impressive and sign a joint technical arc” (New York Times – E. Rothstein).
He completed his main musical training at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome, obtaining cum laude degrees in Viola, Composition and Conducting, he then refined his studies in Siena, Geneva, UK, Switzerland. he was a pupil of the famous violist Bruno Giuranna.
His concert schedule has taken him as soloist and conductor the major music centers of the world: Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, Teatro La Scala in Milan, Berlin Philharmonic, Opera de Paris, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musikverein Vienna, Sydney Opera House, Bunka Kaikan and Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Chicago Symphony Hall.
He was a member of Virtuosi di Roma and since 1978 is viola soloist with the very world famous ensemble I Musici. In 1994 he founded the Quartetto Stradivari.
Very interested in contemporary music, he is both performer and director in numerous world premieres and is extremely active as a composer of chamber and symphonic music. He is one of the founder members of the Academia Musicale Italiana (AMIT) and in 2003 he was appointed Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of Concerto Málaga International Forum Festival Musical High Improvement in Southern Europe – FIAPMSE in Nigüelas (Sierra Nevada).
He teaches Advanced Course of viola at the National Academy Santa Cecilia in Rome and is professor of viola and chamber music at the Musikhochschule in Cologne, Aachen. He was invited by the most prestigious universities and conservatories around the world: Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Japan, China, Venezuela, Hong Kong, Thailand, Korea. It is often invited to be part of juries in international competitions, and many of his students have won first prizes in important competitions. He has recorded for radio and television in Europe, Asia, USA, etc.