Christopher McKay, viola

Violist Christopher McKay enjoys a diverse career as an orchestral and chamber musician. He has been a member of The Phoenix Symphony since 2008 and performed as the Acting Assistant Principal Viola from 2009-2022. As a passionate chamber musician he is a founding member of Urban Nocturnes, a modular chamber music ensemble dedicated to traditional repertoire as well as exploring music of living and underperformed composers. As a Phoenix based ensemble they are currently Artists-in-Residence at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Phoenix, AZ.

Previous solo and chamber music performances include J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No 6 with the Arizona Bach Society in 2022, Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote in 2006 and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola in 2004 with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. From 2018-2022 he performed annual chamber music concerts with the Red Rocks Music Festival in Phoenix and Sedona.

His other orchestral experience include performances with the Utah Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, repeat summer engagements with the Grant Park Orchestra in Chicago, and has held positions in the Louisville Orchestra, Central City Opera Orchestra, Lancaster Festival Orchestra, Evansville Philharmonic, Owensboro Symphony, and Baton Rouge Symphony. In 1998 and 2006 he was a fellow at the Tanglewood Arts Center where he worked with some of the world’s greatest conductors including Seiji Ozawa, Bernard Haitink, James Levine, Robert Spano, and James Conlon.

From 2001-2007 he was a member of the Eykamp String Quartet, a consortium position between the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra and the University of Evansville. In addition to performing numerous concerts per year at the University, the quartet members taught chamber music and private lessons as Adjunct Instructors, held Principal positions in the Philharmonic, and performed regularly at schools and community concerts through education and outreach programs.

Christopher received his viola performance degrees from Louisiana State University (BM) and Indiana University (MM). His primary teachers were Alan deVeritch, Jerzy Kosmala, and Julian Wilkison, with additional instruction from Paul Neubauer and James Dunham.