My guest today is Professor of Viola at the Hochschule für Musik in Dresden, Neasa Ní Bhriain. 

Hailing from Dublin, she started out playing violin and in 2008 moved to Rostock in Germany to study it. However she had always been drawn to the viola, the critical middle voice of the string quartet, and during her studies there switched to it, before completing further studies in Leipzig and Weimar and then winning the position of solo viola in the Staatskapelle Weimar in 2018.

A passionate exponent of contemporary music and its creative soundscapes, she combines her work as a performer and teacher with a zeal for composition and improvisation, and has written and performed numerous works for viola and pedals.

Curious to know more about her journey, the challenges of switching instruments, and her approach to guiding the next generation of musician, I sat down with Neasa where I began by asking how she starting playing music….

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