Violist Wendy Richman is celebrated internationally for her compelling sound and “absorbing,” “fresh and idiomatic” interpretations with “a brawny vitality” (The New York Times, The Washington Post). The Baltimore Sun commented that she made “something at once dramatic and poetic out of the aggressive tremolo-like motif of [Berio’s Sequenza VI].” As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed at Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Royce Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mostly Mozart Festival, and international festivals in Paris, Berlin, Darmstadt, Edinburgh, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Karlsruhe, Morelia, and Vienna. She is a founding member of New York’s International Contemporary Ensemble.

Wendy collaborates with a wide range of composers and has commissioned many pieces in which she sings and plays simultaneously. Her debut solo album of these works, vox/viola, was released on New Focus Recordings in 2020. In addition to her work on contemporary repertoire, Wendy is equally at home performing standard orchestral and chamber music literature, collaborating with fortepianist Malcolm Bilson, the Claremont and Prometheus Trios, members of the Cleveland, Juilliard, and Takács Quartets, and many others. In Los Angeles, she frequently performs with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Tesserae Baroque, and echoi (ensemble) at Monday Evening Concerts, as well as Third Angle New Music in Portland, Oregon. She has also been a regular guest with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the orchestral viola sections of Atlanta, Minnesota, and St. Louis.

Also a distinguished educator, Wendy serves as Lecturer of Viola at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), and Lecturer in Performance Studies at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). At UCLA, she also directs uclaFLUX, the school’s contemporary chamber music program. She previously held positions at NYU, University of Tennessee, University of Alabama, and Cornell University, and she has mentored hundreds of student composers through readings, residencies, recordings, and performances. Wendy is a sought-after clinician at universities, conservatories, and conferences around the world, offering classes on viola repertoire and technique, lectures on string instrument notation, and workshops on contemporary string techniques. In recent years, she has presented master classes and workshops at The Boston Conservatory, The Juilliard School, Lawrence Conservatory, New England Conservatory, Oberlin Conservatory, University of California at Davis, and University of North Texas.

Wendy holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory (Bachelor of Music), New England Conservatory (Master of Music), and Eastman School of Music (Doctor of Musical Arts with the Diploma in Ethnomusicology). Her teachers include Carol Rodland, Kim Kashkashian, Jeffrey Irvine, Peter Slowik, Sara Harmelink, and Arlene Klavins; she was also mentored by Karen Ritscher and Roger Tapping. Wendy’s academic interests address musicians’ communities, stemming from her own experiences with composer-performer relationships, gender- based discrimination, and disability. Her compositions link her love of unconventional string sounds with reflections on nature, physical trauma, and invisible disability. 

Wendy credits her years in MYSO (1987-1997) and her decades-long family connection to the organization with affirming her love of music; providing unparalleled, comprehensive musical training; and supporting her determination to become a professional musician. Wendy is thrilled to perform this lifelong favorite piece with the Senior Symphony, Margery Deutsch, and Violins of Hope-Wisconsin, and she thanks the MYSO staff and her Milwaukee family and friends for their support and love.