A recent prize winner of the 2013 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, violist Zach Dellinger is redefining what it means to be a violist in the 21st century.

His activities as a musician range from recording for television and film, speaking and performing at the 2012 TED-X San Diego, performing as chamber musician and soloist throughout the US, and conducting the award winning Los Angeles Children’s Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

As an orchestral musician, Mr. Dellinger acted as principal viola of the internationally acclaimed Colburn Orchestra from 2008 to 2011, the Santa Barbara Symphony from 2010 to 2011, and recently has been playing in the viola section of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

In the summer of 2008, Mr. Dellinger worked with Pinchas Zukerman at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Canada. Zach has also had the privilege of working with Itzhak Perlman as well as Don Weilerstein and Paul Katz of the Cleveland Quartet, at the Perlman Music Program in New York.

Mr. Dellinger believes strongly in the healing power of classical music. He has committed himself to bringing the world’s most exciting musicians together through the nonprofit Street Symphony to perform on Skid Row, in the LA County Jail, and for veterans suffering from PTSD.

A native of Columbia, South Carolina, Mr. Dellinger completed his Bachelor’s degree at the Eastman School of Music in New York, where he studied with George Taylor. As an undergraduate, he won the Eastman Concerto Competition, and performed the Walton Viola Concerto with the Eastman Philharmonia. He also studied with Donald McInnes at the Music Academy of the West for three summers. In recent years, Mr. Dellinger received his Artist Diploma at the Colburn School where he studied with Paul Coletti.