Randolph Kelly has enjoyed a distinguished and multifaceted career as a soloist, chamber musician, and principal orchestral player. Mr. Kelly has appeared on some of the most prestigious concert stages in the world, including performing the New York premiere of Sir Michael Tippet’s Triple Concerto in Carnegie Hall, conducted by André Previn. He made his European solo debut with the National Orchestra of France when Lorin Maazel invited him to play the Walton Concerto. When Kelly performed the Bartók Viola Concerto under the baton of James DePreist with the Oregon Symphony, the reviewer for The Oregonian stated, “guest soloist Randolph Kelly provided the evening’s highlight... it was a breathtaking performance. Mr. Kelly’s virtuosity as a soloist and chamber musician has been celebrated around the world. He has performed and collaborated with such artists as Yo-Yo Ma, André Previn, Pinchas Zukerman, Truls Mork, Janos Starker, Janine Jansen, and Anner Bylsma, among others. He also toured extensively and recorded as a member of the Los Angeles Piano Quartet. In reviewing an LAPQ performance, the German Press Passaver Neve stated, Randolph Kelly is in a class of his own. He has a richness of tone such as one seldom hears... Additionally, Kelly has performed as a guest artist at chamber music festivals internationally, including Japan, Australia, Europe, China, Taiwan, Russia, the Caribbean, South America, and Mexico. Mr. Kelly is widely known for his tenure as Principal Violist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, a position he held for 42 years. He was first engaged by André Previn in 1976, and has since played under the direction of Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, and Manfred Honeck. In a personal letter to him, Previn once expressed that Mr. Kelly “transformed the section into what I believe is the best viola section of any orchestra in America.” He performed regularly as a featured soloist with the orchestra, including collaborations on Don Quixote with acclaimed cellists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Truls Mork, Lynn Harrell, Janos Starker, Maximilian Hornung, and Nathaniel Rosen, with whom he was featured on the series Previn and the Pittsburgh, broadcast nationally on PBS. Highlights of Kelly’s tenure with the PSO include two commissions by composer Samuel Adler; the Viola Concerto and the orchestration of the Brahms Viola Sonata in F Minor. In addition to his rigorous performing schedule, Kelly has recorded a wide range of music for the Albany, Naxos, IBS Classical, and Music Masters labels. He is a graduate of The Curtis Institute, where he worked closely with the esteemed violists Joseph de Pasquale and Michael Tree. He is an engaged teacher and frequently leads clinics and master classes.

Regularly tours the Americas, Europe and Asia as solo recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist;. Following a summer filled with re-engagements at major festivals throughout the United states and Canada, John Novacek’s current season is highlighted by his returns to Massachusetts’ Springfield Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Kevin Rhodes, and Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México, conducted by Scott Yoo. He also continues his collaborative work with violinist Leila Josefowicz, performing at Amherst College, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York City’s Park Avenue Armory and Washington, DC’s Library of Congress and The Phillips Collection. John Novacek’s major American performances have been heard in New York City’s Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall, 92nd Street Y, Columbia University’s Miller Theater, Merkin Concert Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Symphony Space, Washington’s The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Chicago’s Symphony Center and Los Angeles’ Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Hollywood Bowl and Royce Hall, while international venues include Paris’ Theatre des Champs-Elysées, Salle Gaveau and Musée du Louvre, London’s Wigmore Hall and Barbican Centre... He is also a frequent guest artist at festivals, here and abroad, including New York City’s Mostly Mozart Festival, California’s Festival Mozaic and those of Aspen, Cape Cod, Caramoor, Chautauqua, Colorado College, Great Lakes, Mendocino, Mimir, Ravinia, Seattle, SummerFest La Jolla, Wolf Trap, BBC Proms (England), Braunschweig (Germany), Lucerne, Menuhin and Verbier (Switzerland), Majorca (Spain), Sorrento (Italy), Stavanger (Norway), Toulouse (France) and Sapporo (Japan). He has also made his debut with the Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México. John Novacek is a much sought-after collaborative artist and has performed with Joshua Bell, Matt Haimovitz, Leila Josefowicz, Cho-Liang Lin, Yo-Yo Ma, Truls Mork, Elmar Oliveira and Emmanuel Pahud, and, as well as the Colorado, Harrington, Jupiter, New Hollywood, St. Lawrence, SuperNova and Ying string quartets. John Novacek took top prizes at both the Leschetizky and Joanna Hodges international piano competitions, among many others. Mr. Novacek’s coaches in composition included Frederick Werle, Aurelio de la Vega and Daniel Kessner. John Novacek’s own compositions and arrangements have been performed by the Pacific Symphony, The 5 Browns, Concertante, Manasse/Nakamatsu Duo, Harrington String Quartet, Ying Quartet, Millennium, Quattro Mani and The Three Tenors. He has recorded over 30 CDs, records for Philips, Nonesuch, Arabesque, Warner Classics, Sony/BMG, Koch International, Universal Classics, Ambassador, Pony Canyon, Four Winds, Arkay, Virtuoso and EMI Classics. CD titles include Road Movies (2004 GRAMMY nomination as “Best Chamber Music Performance”), Great Mozart Piano Works, Spanish Rhapsody, Novarags (original ragtime compositions), Classic Romance, Hungarian Sketches, Intersection, Romances et Meditations and, with Leila Josefowicz, Americana (GRAMOPHONE: “Editor’s Choice”), For the End of Time, Shostakovich and Recital (BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE: 5 stars/June 2005’s chamber choice). John Novacek is a Steinway Artist.