Aaron Westman

Viola

Since returning to his native California in 2005, Aaron Westman has become one of the most sought-after period violists on the West Coast. He has performed as principal violist and soloist with the American Bach Soloists, and regularly as a member of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Musica Angelica, Bach Collegium San Diego, Jubilate Orchestra, San Francisco Bach Choir, Ensemble Mirable, and El Mundo. His newly formed ensemble, Agave Baroque, specializes in 17th-century string chamber music and won the 2009 Early Music America/APAP Competition. Westman has performed and toured throughout the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Europe. He has recorded live and in the studio with the above groups, as well as for Hollywood, Magnatune, Austrian Radio ORF, National Public Radio’s “Performance Today,” and on the NCA label.

Westman holds a Master of Music from Indiana University, where he studied with Stanley Ritchie and Alan de Veritch and double-majored in viola performance and early music. He also studied at Wesleyan University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he was the only student of Geraldine Walther.

Westman teaches baroque violin and co-directs the baroque ensembles at California Institute of the Arts near Los Angeles, where he resides.