First Name:
Dr. Eric
Last Name:
Koontz
Main Title:
Professor of Viola and Violin
String Area Coordinator
Office Location:
Room 312, Broyhill Music Center
Phone Number:
828-262-6464
Email:
Type:
Area(s):
Dr. Eric Koontz is a professor of viola and the coordinator of the string area in the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University, where he has taught since 2005. Dr. Koontz teaches string chamber music, and the graduate ensemble in addition to teaching viola, string methods, orchestral excerpts for bowed strings, and literature and pedagogy.
Dr. Koontz has led the viola sections of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya) and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (National Israeli Radio Orchestra) before returning to the United States to pursue studies towards the Doctor of Musical Arts. In Barcelona, he premiered Max Bruch's Double Concerto for Viola, Clarinet and Orchestra on the Iberian Peninsula under the baton of Lawrence Foster. An active chamber musician, he was a founding member of the Nayades Trio (flute, harp and viola); the Reinecke Trio (clarinet, viola and piano); and the Quartet Glinka, with whom he participated in performances of the complete string quartets of Dmitri Shostakovich at the Juan March Foundation in Madrid. In Israel, Koontz performed with Music in the Desert, a festival for new music at Kibbutz Sde Boker, directed by Michael Wolpe.
Examples of Dr. Koontz’s writing in print include the articles "Els músics i els reptes de l'OBC" (3 April 2002, Avui newspaper, Barcelona) and "Una orquesta eficaz y plural" (November 2002, Scherzo magazine, Madrid). As a chamber and symphonic violist, Koontz has recorded with the RCA, EMI, Ars Harmonica, Columna, Koch and Decca labels.
Dr. Koontz holds the Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He earned the Master of Music and Master of Musical Arts degrees from Yale University, and a Bachelor of Music at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He has studied with Donald McInnes, Scott Rawls, Msao Kawasaki, Jesse Levine, Hatto Beyerle, Gerald Stanick, Jaap Schroder, and Lawrence Dreyfus.
To listen to recordings of Dr. Koontz's live performances please visit his website: https://soundcloud.com/eriqvla.