Martin Schaefer

Professor of Viola

Martin, born in Rees, Germany, started playing the violin at the age of five and switched to the viola three years later. Before he finished school he started studying at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf with Jürgen Kussmaul and later moved to Berlin to continue his studies at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin with Walter Küssner.

Masterclasses with Wolfram Christ, Tabea Zimmermann and the Artemis Quartett among others furthered his musical education. He won prizes at competitions such as Jugend musiziert, Concertino Praga, the Klassikpreis des WDR and the Max Reger price Karlsruhe as a soloist and member of chamber ensembles.

Orchestras Martin has frequently worked with include the Berliner Philharmoniker, the London Symphony Orchestra, the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, the RLPO, the CBSO and Royal Northern Sinfonia. He joined the BBC NOW in 2012 as no. 3 and acting principal before moving to the Hallé orchestra in Manchester in 2014 where he was appointed sub principal in 2015.