The American-Iranian violist Muriel Razavi is one of the most promising musicians of her generation and performs worldwide in various formations and genres of classical music. From October 2023, she will teach as Professor of Viola at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg and at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Trossingen.
Previously, she held the position of Deputy Principal Viola of the MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig and volunteered for two years as a mentor in the mentoringArts program at the Leipzig University of Music and Theatre for the professional preparation of students in the music business.
Muriel Razavi is pursuing her PhD at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre under the artistic supervision of Daniel Barenboim, where she is conducting research on re-orientalism in contemporary music by Iranian female composers from the Iranian Female Composers Association. In 2022, she was awarded the "Prize for an Outstanding Program with a Special Social Relevance" at the Dbü Competition for her performance for viola solo "ancient eve is once again offering apples". With her performance she appeared in the season 22/23 at the Ultraschallfestival Berlin and at the Heidelberger Frühling. With the concerto for viola and orchestra "her path through clay and silk", awarded to the composer Golfam Khayam, she made her debut under the baton of Thorsten Encke.
The winner of the international "Washington String Competition" (Washington D.C., 2018), as well as winner of the international competitions "Michael Spisak" (Katowice, 2017) and "Città di Cremona" of the 43rd International Viola Congress (Cremona, 2016) performs at festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Stavelot Festival in Belgium, the Yeosu Festival in South Korea and the "Semanas Musicales de Frutillar" in Chile, where she also gave a master class. Her chamber music partners include Baiba Skride, Kian Soltani, Harriet Krijgh and Frank Braley.
As a member of the West Eastern Divan Orchestra under the direction of Daniel Barenboim and the soloist ensemble "Mutter's Virtuosi" under the musical direction of violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, she performs worldwide. She studied with renowned teachers such as Prof. Tabea Zimmermann, Prof. Nils Mönkemeyer and Prof. Tatjana Masurenko. In 2019, she completed her master's studies with Prof. Wilfried Strehle at the University of the Arts in Berlin with top marks.
As a baroque violist she deepened her knowledge of historical performance practice in the "Balthasar Neumann Ensemble" conducted by Thomas Hengelbrock, in the "Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment" in London, in the "il pomo d'oro" ensemble and in the orchestra "Le Concert Olympique" in Belgium.
She plays on a viola made for her by the French violin maker Patrick Robin and an
Alemannic baroque viola after a historical model by Dorothea van der Woerd. In addition to her music studies, Muriel Razavi holds a Bachelor's degree in "History and Culture of the Near East - Iranian Studies" from FU Berlin and a Master's degree in "Religion and Culture" from HU Berlin.
