Michael Klotz
Michael KlotzBorn in 1978 in Rochester, NY, Michael Klotz made his solo debut with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of seventeen. He has also appeared with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Penfield Symphony Orchestra, Mannes Bach Festival Orchestra, and the World Youth Music Festival Orchestra in London, England. An avid performer of the chamber music repertoire, recent appearances on violin and viola include concerts in New York at venues such as Alice Tully Hall, Weill Hall, Merkin Hall, Steinway Hall, Museum of Modern Art and the Kosciuzsko Foundation, which included a live broadcast on WQXR-FM. Additionally, he has been heard in prestigious halls in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Diego, Rochester, and Mexico. He has enjoyed numerous collaborations in concerts with artist faculties of the Juilliard and Eastman Schools of Music as well as members of the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Baltimore and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras.
Michael Klotz has performed at leading festivals such as the Sarasota Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, and Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, where he was an assistant faculty member for three summers. He prizes his association with the New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall. In December of 2003 he was invited by Maestro Jaime Laredo to perform with distinguished alumni of the Seminar in Carnegie Hall.
Michael Klotz received a Bachelor of Music degree and Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music as a student of Zvi Zeitlin. In 2002, Michael Klotz became one of the few individuals to complete the Master of Music degree in both Violin and Viola Performance from The Juilliard School, where he was a recipient of the Maxwell Gluck Fellowship and the Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship.
Michael draws his musical influence primarily from distinguished musicians such as Zvi Zeitlin, Shmuel Ashkenasi of the Vermeer Quartet, and members of the Guarneri and LaSalle Quartets.
Michael Klotz is currently artist-in residence at Florida International University, where he teaches viola and chamber music.