Mark Childs(1944)

Well-known to Canadian audiences as principal viola of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra from 1976 to 1988, Mark Childs was also Artist-in-Residence at McMaster University from 1978 to 1989. A graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Mr. Childs studied violin with Jascha Brodsky, viola with Max Aronoff, conducting with Sir Wilfred Pelletier and chamber music with Joseph Gingold and members of the Curtis, Juilliard, Cleveland and Guarneri Quartets. He has toured South America as principal viola of the McGill Chamber Orchestra, New Zealand with the McMaster String Quartet and Europe with the Chamber Players of Toronto. He has appeared as soloist with the Pittsburgh and Atlanta Symphonies, the Hamilton Philharmonic, the Canterbury Chamber Orchestra of New Zealand, the Mozart Chamber Orchestra of Burlington and the Chamber Players of Toronto. For thirty years he toured and recorded with Trio Lyra, a flute-viola-harp ensemble.