John Batchelder

Praised for his “persuasively emphatic and engaging” performances (Boston Musical Intelligencer), violist John Batchelder has captivated audiences as a passionate chamber musician, educator and administrator, deeply committed to the values of chamber music. He has performed as soloist with numerous ensembles such as the Hemenway Strings, Los Colinas Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Arlington, Garland Symphony Orchestra and Worcester Bach Consort and, as well as participated in various summer festivals and masterclasses, such as The McGill International String Quartet Academy, the Banff Centre Masterclasses, St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar, the Meadowmount School of Music, The Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, and the Music from Salem Festival in Salem NY. As a member of the award winning Julius Quartet, John has performed in venerated venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Bargemusic, Moss Arts Center, Shalin Liu Performance Center, and Bing Concert Hall. As a fervent chamber musician, John has collaborated with numerous artists such as Aaron Boyd, Joseph Silverstein, Andres Cardenes, Andres Diaz and members of the St. Lawrence, Escher, Shanghai, Baumer, and Lydian Quartets. In 2011, he was a winner of the Davis Projects for Peace Grant for his program designed to help, encourage and teach music to the young children of the favelas of Natal, Brazil. Beginning his musical education in Boston, John is a graduate of The Boston Conservatory where he studied with Lila Brown, and of the John J. Cali School of Music Graduate String Quartet in Residence program where he studied with Honggang Li of the celebrated Shanghai Quartet. During the quartet’s tenure as the Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence at the Meadows School of Music at Southern Methodist University, he served as an Assistant Chamber Music Coach at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. In addition to his work as a performer and educator, John now serves as Executive Director of the Dallas Chamber Music Society, celebrating 79 years of presenting the world’s most esteemed chamber music ensembles. John performs on a viola crafted by Michele Deconet (Venice, 1780) that was previously played by Boris Kroyt of the Budapest String Quartet, loaned to him in memory of Boris and Sonya Kroyt.