Jesse Morrison, praised for his “lovely viola tones” (Mark Morris, Edmonton Scene), enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. He recently commissioned a solo viola work by Derek David and recorded his debut album, Transitions. He has appeared at festivals including Chamberfest West, Festival Mozaic and NEXUS Chamber Music. Jesse was a founding member of the Neruda Quartet and Arkadas Quartet and also is the Canadian representative for Music for Food. His artistic collaborations include Kim Kashkashian, Ani Kavafian, Joel Krosnick, Pekka Kuusisto and Donald Weilerstein. An active educator, he teaches privately and on faculty at the Amici String Program and Mount Royal University. He studied with Kashkashian, Steven Dann and Teng Li at NEC, the Glenn Gould School and University of Toronto respectively. Jesse's spent his summers performing at the Yellow Barn Music Festival and currently plays on an Otto Erdesz viola and a Kaspar Pankow bow.