Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot, viola

 

The Viennese-born violist Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot , former student of Siegfried Führlinger (Vienna) and Heidi Castleman (USA), is described as a violist of exceptional qualitity. She is full time professor of viola and chamber music at the Université de Montréal, Canada, as well as on the faculties of the Orford Music Festival (Quebec), the TTT Project (teach teachers teach) in Villaricca,Chile, the Meadowmount School of Music and the Sarasota International Music Festival (USA). She has taught at the at the Perlman Music Programm (PMP), the Heifetz International Music Institute (Virginia) and the North American Viola Insatitute (NAVI). She is reknown for her performances of rare post-romantic viola repertoire. and was principal viola of the Laval Symphonie Orchestra (Laval, Québéc) over 20 years. She has toured extensively as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician and lecturer, giving masterclasses in the most prestigious schools and summer programms such as The Juilliard School of Music, The Curtis Institute , the Vienna University of Music (Austria), Conservatoire superieure de musique de Lyon
She was the host of the 36th International Viola congress held in Montreal , is president of the International Viola Society (IVS), and holds the Maurice Riley Prize for International achievement (2006) as well as the Canadian Life achievement award (2022)as well as the Silver Clef Award (2019) highest distinction of the IVS.
Her interest goes to rediscovering late romantic music written for the viola, real gems of which many have been recorded on solo CDs (« Alto Romantic Fantasies" ECCD 2060, "German Romantic works » FACD018).
Her latest discoveries focus on 27 « Pièces de Concours", of which 18 have been recorded by Jutta on the Navona Level as well as 13 of them edited in 3 volumes by the Schott edition, winner of the best Editions Prize 2017, discribed as« Rare fin –de-siècle competition pieces providing a treasure trove of viola repertoire « .