Grammy Award-winning Japanese-Norwegian violist Masumi Rostad has been described as an “electrifying, poetic and sensitive musician” with an “understated yet commanding presence” by critics and is in demand as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. In 2017 he was appointed to the faculty of the renowned Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.
2023-4 highlights include concerto appearances with the Virginia Symphony, LA Chamber Orchestra, Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and numerous festivals including La Jolla Summerfest, Music In The Vineyards (Napa), SpoletoUSA, and Beare’s Premiere Music Festival (Hong Kong).
As a former member of the Pacifica Quartet 2001-2017 Masumi recorded prolifically and concertized extensively.
He received his BM and MM degrees from The Juilliard School where he studied with legendary violist and pedagogue Karen Tuttle and was appointed her teaching assistant. While a student, he performed the world premiere of Michael White’s Viola Concerto in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall and also gave the New York premiere of Paul Schoenfield’s Viola Concerto.
Masumi has served on the faculties of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The University of Chicago, The University of Toronto, and Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music.
Currently, Masumi lives in Rochester, NY. He actively maintains a YouTube channel and produces videos about music and musicians. His Amati viola was crafted in Cremona, Italy in 1619.