Yosef Tamir-Smirnoff – Viola

A native of Moscow, Yosef Tamir-Smirnoff began studying violin at the Tchaikovsky Institute of Music with Irina Kouznetsova, eventually continuing with Leonid Rozenberg in Tel Aviv. He has chosen the viola as his principal study by the time he immigrated to Canada in 1995. Yosef then studied in Montreal with Alexei Dyachkov, the former violist of the Shostakovich Quartet, and in Bloomington at Indiana University where he was the teaching assistant of Alan DeVeritch and the recipient of the Nina Neil Scholarship.  After graduating from Indiana with an Artist’s Diploma, Yosef moved to Toronto to study with Steven Dann at the Glenn Gould School.

Yosef was principal violist with the UBS Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, and the Indiana University Philharmonic Orchestra. He has performed with I Musici de Montreal, and with some of the world’s greatest conductors including James Levine, Yuri Temerkanov, Kurt Mazur, Yuri Bashmet, Mstislav Rostropovich, Kent Nagano, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Paavo Jarvi. He presently holds a position in the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra.

Yosef has enjoyed considerable success in numerous competitions: He won first prize in the Prix d’Expression Musicale Solo Competition, the International Chamber Orchestra Concerto competition, the Kuttner International Quartet Competition, and second prize in both the American String Teacher’s Association and Montreal Symphony Orchestra Solo Competitions.

Yosef is also a highly sought-after chamber musician and has collaborated with many eminent musicians.  In 2003, the St Petersburg Quartet invited him to perform with them during their tour of Mexico and the U.S. He has also performed with the Ying Quartet,St. Lawrence Quartet, Pinchas Zukermann, Jonathan Crow, Ruth Laredo, Ilya Kaler and Toronto’s ARC Ensemble (with Erika Raum and David Louie among others).The recording than he made with that group was nominated for 2008 Grammy Award. His performances have been broadcast on NBC Television, CBC Radio and WQSF radio. Yosef joined the Tokai String Quartet in October 2003