The Society was originally founded as the English Viola Society in September 2007 by the late Professor John White and Dr Louise Lansdown (President).
The society exists for the benefit of violists and aficionados of the instrument.
It has expanded to become the British Viola Society with charitable objectives, aiming to support, promote and encourage every aspect of playing, teaching, composing and research relevant to the viola in Great Britain.
The British Viola Society's inaugural meeting was held at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester on 14 October 2012.
The British Viola Society Board is made up of the following officers:
- Dr Louise Lansdown - President
- Martin Outram - Vice-President
- Sue Douglas - Secretary
- Paul Hickman - Treasurer
- Tim Walton Executive Secretary - Membership
- Peter Whitehead Executive Secretary - Facebook
- Thomas Cai - BVS Conservatoire Coordinator
- Janet Pazio - BVS Groups and Orchestral Coordinator
- Vanessa Gaidoni - BVS Young Violist Coordinator
This society exists for the benefit of violists. Please send any information you would like us to advertise for you pertaining to concerts, publications of viola music, if you would like to get involved, join the society, teaching, congresses. We would love to hear from you.
At the moment we are small and looking for more members to join and help us build a catalogue of British Viola Music, Events, Violists, Jokes….
The International Viola Society hosts an International Viola Congress every year in a different part of the world.
ABRAV, the Brazilian Viola Society, will be hosting the 49th IVS Congress in 2024! It will be the first time that this important event will take place in South America, hosted at Unicamp in Campinas which is northwest of São Paulo.
The 48th International Viola Congress was held in Thailand, 6-10 June 2023.
MISSION STATEMENT
The British Viola Society exists solely for the purpose of promoting the performance, teaching, composition, research, making and development of the viola in Great Britain. The BVS aims to accommodate professional, amateurs and all those people interested in this unique and incredible instrument. The board of the British Viola Society is made up entirely of volunteers, all deeply people passionate about the viola. We are devoted to supporting students, teachers, performers, composers, researchers and instrument makers around the country and hope you will all join us in celebrating the rich and fascinating tapestry of the viola.
