Rodrigues, CarlaMaria

Principal Viola

CarlaMaria Rodrigues has been Principal Viola of the San Francisco Opera since 1996. She won her first audition at the age of 23 with the Minnesota Orchestra where she was later appointed Assistant Principal Viola. While serving as the Minnesota Orchestra’s Acting Principal in 1995, she was a featured soloist in Strauss’ Don Quixote with Yo-Yo Ma and David Zinman, recorded live on MPR. Since moving to San Francisco, she has been Guest Principal Viola of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE) and Principal Viola of the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

CarlaMaria's many chamber music collaborations with such artists as Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Hephzibah Menuhin, Rudolph Serkin, Pinchas Zukerman, Steven Isserlis, Daniel Hope, Ann Sofie von Otter and Lorenza Borrani have taken her to Europe, South America, Asia, Israel and Australia. She has been a member of the Zukerman and Friends’ Ensemble and an active participant at numerous Festivals including Marlboro, Santa Fe, Gstaad, IMS Prussia Cove, Aldeburgh, Savannah, Mecklenburg, Dolomiti, Brixen and Schleswig-Holstein. She has been invited to play Principal Viola with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under the direction of Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Sir Andras Schiff. Other engagements have included chamber music collaborations with Menachem Pressler, the Danish String Quartet, the Emerson String Quartet and the Borrani Trio.

A passionate educator, CarlaMaria has been a regular guest teacher of the Jerusalem Music Center, coaching chamber music and orchestral studies to aspiring young musicians from all over Israel including the Young Israeli Philharmonic. She continues to mentor young artists and in 2018 began her association as a lecturer with EUphony, a cooperative project of chamber music and orchestral training in association with several Universities and Music Institutions in Europe. She has also had a long association with the Mehli Mehta Foundation in Mumbai, mentoring teachers and helping to establish new education programs for young children. From 2016 to 2018, CarlaMaria was Adjunct Professor of Viola at UCLA and more recently has been a Guest Faculty Member of NYO-USA and the Tanglewood Music Center. In 2024, CarlaMaria will be on leave, pursuing volunteer work in Asia and continuing to perform and teach at festivals and institutions in Europe.