If any contemporary violist continues to carry the torch of the composer-performer, it is Scott Slapin.”     
Journal of the American Viola Society

 

 “...brilliantly written... real lyricism... heartfelt’"   
Fanfare   

 

"Slapin is a real viola virtuoso..."   
American Record Guide  

 

“…a solid core of modern viola duo writing.
Interlude

 

Exceptional talent
Arts Council England

  

Scott Slapin is great! It's hard to imagine better performances.”   
20th Century Violin Virtuoso Ruggiero Ricci   

     

0:00 Bach Sonata No. 1 Fugue
0:39 Slapin South Hadley Mass (Adagio)
1:45 Lane Sonata No. 3 (Wind in the Trees)
2:30 Hindemith Sonata Op. 25, Nr. 1 (mvt 4)
3:02 Slapin Sonata in C for two violas (Andante)
4:10 Slapin Adventures in Ancestry (Part 1)
5:20 Slapin Intermezzo for two violas 

7:06 Paganini Caprice No. 3
7:50 Slapin Sonata in G for violin and viola (Allegretto)
8:31 Bach Partita No. 2 (Chaconne)
10:00 Kreisler Praeludium and Allegro
11:22 Slapin Lullaby
12:03 Paganini Caprice No. 10
12:35 Ernst The Last Rose of Summer

One of Scott's compositions

Scott with his Iizuka viola and violin and two paintings by William Sorrow

Scott with a painting by Emanuel Vardi

Click here to listen to the Slapin Anthology.

BIO

Scott Slapin (b. 1974) is the composer of ten albums of Neo-Romantic music for viola. A former Lucas Artists fellow at the Montalvo Arts Center in California, he has been commissioned by the American Viola Society, the Primrose International Viola Competition, the Wistaria String Quartet, and the Penn State Viola Ensemble. His recital compositions have been performed by hundreds of violists internationally.

Scott is also the soloist for the first complete viola recording of J.S. Bach's Sonatas and Partitas and the premiere recordings of 20th and 21st Century viola works by Frank Proto, Richard Lane, Patrick Neher, Boris Pigovat, Robert Cobert, Blanche Blood, John Duke, Arthur Foote, Maurice Gardner, Ivan Langstroth, Frederick Slee, and Gustav Strube. Excerpts from his Bach and Paganini Caprices albums can be heard along with some of his own compositions on various soundtracks for film and TV. 

Scott grew up in a family of string players in New Jersey and studied violin/viola with Barbara Barstow and Emanuel Vardi and composition with Richard Lane. At eighteen he was one of the youngest graduates of the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. He gave countless recitals, wrote for and soloed with orchestras, premiered solo works at Carnegie's Weill Hall and international viola congresses, and played on contract in symphony orchestras from Cincinnati to São Paulo. Scott and his wife Tanya Solomon performed together in recital for more than two decades as the award-winning Slapin-Solomon Viola Duo and taught in Massachusetts at Mount Holyoke and Amherst colleges, respectively.

Scott's playing has received critical acclaim in Fanfare, Strad, Musical Opinion, Mundo Clásico, and the American Record Guide. He has been profiled in the Journal of the American Viola Society, Strings Magazine, and on radio programs worldwide, and he served as a committee member, judge, and performer for the inaugural Maurice Gardner Composition Competition. Many of his compositions for strings can be heard on The Slapin Anthology

Scott plays a viola and violin by Hiroshi Iizuka and teaches viola, violin, and composition worldwide via Skype.

 

Listen to some of Scott's compositions (grouped by instrumentation) at YouTube:

Some of Scott's other YouTube videos take in: