JOEL HUNTER

Born in Yorkshire, England, Joel Hunter took up the viola at school at the age of seven. After eventually deciding on a career in music rather than football, he moved to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music. Since then, Joel has performed all over the world with many leading orchestras and ensembles.

On leaving the Royal Academy, he was appointed co-principal viola of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Glasgow. A couple of years later, he moved to the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm, where he served as principal viola until 2014. He is currently principal violist of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, a position he combines with a busy freelance career in the UK and beyond.

He has worked as guest principal violist with most of the UK's leading orchestras, including the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Covent Garden, Hallé, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra and Royal Northern Sinfonia. Internationally, he has also worked with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Deutsch Romantisches Orchester, Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

As a chamber musician, Joel has performed with many eminent artists, including Christian Tetzlaff, Alisa Weilerstein, Pascal Rogé, Mitsuko Uchida and Leif Ove Andsnes, in concerts throughout the world. Recent recordings include the Korngold String Sextet for Chandos and Mozart's Piano Quartets with Leif Ove Andsnes for Sony Classical. He is a founding member of the Logos Chamber Group, performing annually at the Joy of Music Festival and International Piano Competition in Hong Kong.

In 2001, he was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in recognition of his services to the profession.