Elijah Spies, Viola

Born in London, Elijah Spies first started learning the viola in group lessons at school, before beginning studies at the junior department of the Royal College of Music. He has since performed at international concert series including the BBC Proms, the Lucerne Festival, and Musikfest Berlin. Elijah Spies performed as an intern with the Basel Sinfonietta during the 2022-23 season, playing concerts at venues across Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium. Other recent highlights include appearances at the Creative Dialogues festival in Helsinki, at the Berlin Philharmonie with Ensemble Modern Orchestra, and at the festival ECLAT in Stuttgart, for the premiere of Valerio Sannicandro’s ›VISIO-FICTIO‹ for amplified violas and choir. With a particular passion for collaborating with composers and creating new music, Elijah Spies has studied and premiered works at festivals including the Darmstädter Ferienkurse, New Music on the Point and the Hans Zender Akademie. He has performed chamber music with members of the JACK Quartet, Ensemble Recherche, and International Contemporary Ensemble, and recently undertook intensive string quartet lessons with György Kurtág at the Budapest Music Center. Since 2018, Elijah Spies has been a performing artist for Concerts in Motion, providing solo and chamber concerts at hospital wards, retirement communities, and for isolated, homebound residents in New York. He was the featured soloist at the Queens COVID Memorial Ceremony. Elijah Spies completed a master’s degree at the Basel Music Academy, studying with Geneviève Strosser, and holds a bachelor's degree from The Juilliard School. In his free time, Elijah Spies enjoys free improvisation, cat-sitting, and going down Wikipedia rabbit-holes.