Richard Fleischman

Richard Fleischman (born February 25, 1963) is an American viola and viola d'amore player, conductor and pedagogue.

Winner of the 1988 Windsor Prize, presented by Leonard Bernstein, the 1984 Edward Steuermann Prize and a Naumberg Scholarship from the Juilliard School. Fleischman plays a viola built for him by Hiroshi Iizuka in 2008 and a viola d'amore made in 2011 by Martin Biller.

Born in Flushing, Queens, New York City, Fleischman grew up in Manalapan, New Jersey, beginning violin studies at the age of 9 and switching to viola at age 12. At age 16, he was accepted at The Juilliard School Pre-College Division, where he studied viola with Eugene Becker and chamber music with Julius Baker and Leonard Rose.

After receiving his pre-college diploma, he went on to study on scholarship in the college division of The Juilliard School, receiving the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music Degrees in a total of four years.

While at The Juilliard School, he served as principal violist of the Juilliard Philharmonia, the Juilliard Chamber Orchestra, the Juilliard Symphony and the Juilliard Orchestra. At Juilliard, he studied viola with William Lincer, long-time principal violist of the New York Philharmonic and was his teaching assistant during 1984–85. He also studied chamber music with the Juilliard String Quartet and composition with Vincent Persichetti. At commencement, he was awarded the Eduard Steuermann Memorial Prize by the Juilliard faculty.

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