Robert Rinehart

Viola

Robert Rinehart joined the New York Philharmonic's viola section in September 1992. Mr. Rinehart has an extensive background in chamber music; as a founding member of the Ridge String Quartet, he toured extensively in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America beginning in 1979. The quarter was featured on all of New York's major chamber music series as well as the Spoleto, Schleswig-Holstein and Helsinki festivals.

In addition to the Ridge Quartet's recordings on the RCA Victor Red Seal label - which earned Mr. Rinehart a 1992 Grammy nomination - his recording credits include a 1991 Grammy-winning chamber music collaboration with soprano Dawn Upshaw for Nonesuch.

Mr. Rinehart has also performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Brandenburg Ensemble, conducted by Alexander Schneider, and has been a participant in the Caramoor Festival, New York's Bargemusic series, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon, and other chamber music festivals around the world. A San Francisco native, Mr. Rinehart attended the University of California at Berkeley, the San Francisco Conservatory, and the Curtis Institute of Music. In his spare time he enjoys reading, cooking and travel. He and his wife Carmit Zori, a violinist, had their first child, Amalia, last September. When Amalia will permit it, they enjoy cooking, reading, and taking naps.