Joël Belgique
sanchopanza@fearnomusic.org

Born in Lansing, Mich., and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, by French parents, Joël Belgique first studied viola with Mikhail Boguslavsky, and later with David Holland at the Interlochen Arts Academy. While a student at Interlochen, Joël doubled as a composition major and won the schools composer-of-the-year award. His love of new music started when he discovered the 20th century notation manuals by David Cope and Kurt Stone and the avant-garde music of Crumb, Berio and Sciarinno. While a student at the Eastman School of Music he was always involved with the school's new music ensemble where he worked with composers such as Schwantner, Welcher, and Adler. He later studied composition at Brigham Young University where he was awarded a prestigious Barlow Foundation grant.

As principal violist for the Oregon Symphony, Joël remains a strong advocate of new music, and as a 5-year member of the Northwest's premier new music ensemble fEARnoMUSIC, he has had the opportunity to perform many great works of this century. His repertoire includes compositions by Berio, Ligeti, Schnittke, Bartok, and Bolcom. He has recorded Jack Gabel's Hellenic Triptych for solo viola and electronics, as well as Tomas Svoboda's Trio Chorales for violin, viola and piano, both on the North Pacific Music label.   Recently, Joël and assistant principal in the OSO Charles Noble performed the NW premier of George Benjamin's Viola, Viola at the International Viola Congress in Seattle, Washington.

He is currently working on his first recital CD which will include sonata's by Jacob Avshalomov, Rebecca Clarke, and Marion Bauer with pianist Cary Lewis, as well as the premier recording of Tomas Svoboda's sonata with Svoboda playing piano.