Imagine…
- a studio that works together to help each other achieve their goals
- a teacher who empowers each student to reach their individual aspirations
- a community that believes we can create a meaningful impact through music
- a teaching philosophy that considers a musician’s life from a holistic perspective, cultivating physical and mental health
- an approach that embraces the traditional and modern
- an institution that challenges existing boundaries of musicianship
Welcome to the UT College of Music Viola Studio!
UT Viola Studio Highlights
- 1.5 hour of lessons per week, including a 30-minute scale/technique lesson
- Regular Studio projects such as presentations at the International Viola Congress or American Viola Society Festival
- Enthusiastic, mutually supportive culture in the studio
- Nationally recognized Annual Viola Celebration, a weekend event each fall that brings world renown pedagogues and performers to campus for master classes, the All-Viola Orchestra, a viola ensemble competition, a faculty recital, technique and special topic workshops.
- Orchestral excerpts course, and numerous area orchestras provide professional opportunities
- Visiting artist master classes for the viola studio each semester
- Numerous performance opportunities, including weekly studio class, regular studio recitals and outreach performances
Meet Our Faculty
Hillary Herndon
Professor of Viola | hherndon@utk.edu
Violist Hillary Herndon has earned a national reputation for her brilliant playing, “sweetly soaring tone” (Time Out New York), creative programing and insightful teaching. She has been heard on NPR and PBS and has collaborated with some of the world’s foremost artists, including Carol Wincenc, James VanDermark and Itzhak Perlman, who described Hillary as “having it all… a gifted teacher and an excellent musician.”
Ms. Herndon is dedicated to expanding the repertoire for viola through commissions of new compositions as well as research, performance and advocacy of little known existing works. Her recitals often feature brand new or unknown repertoire alongside the standard canon. Herndon’s first recording, “La Viola: Music for Viola and Piano by Women Composers of the 20th Century” received praise from all reviewers, including The International Record Guide, who called the CD “uncommonly interesting” and “strongly recommended.”
With Clarinetist Jeremy Reynolds and Pianist Wei-Chun Bernadette Lo, Herndon has founded the Waldland Ensemble, a group committed to expanding the repertoire for clarinet, viola and piano works. In 2015, the group commissioned and premiered five new works from American Composers in Carnegie Hall. The group has performed through the US, Europe and in Africa and has released an album of their first round of commissions entitled “American Voices” on MSR Classics. Donald Rosenberg of Gramophone Magazine described the ensemble as “expert champions of repertoire they bring brilliantly to life.”
A dedicated teacher, Ms. Herndon has a thriving studio at the University of Tennessee and has taught at the Eastman School of Music, Sewanee and Round Top Summer Music Festivals. She is the director and founder of the Annual UT Viola Celebration, an event that has involved hundreds of violists from across North America and co-founder of the Viola Winter Intensive events with Kathryn Dey, George Taylor, and Juliet White-Smith. She has given master classes at Juilliard, the International Viola Congress in New Zealand, Penn State University, the University of Michigan, Louisiana State University, Universidad EAFIT in Colombia and the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande Do Sul in Brazil. Herndon’s teaching articles have been published in the Journals of the American Viola Society and the American String Teacher Association.
Herndon is passionate about teaching outside the traditional studio as well; under the organization of Clarinets for Conservation, she has established Daraja Strings, the first ever string program in Moshi, Tanzania. In 2015, Herndon and three UT Music majors traveled to Moshi with 14 donated instruments to teach daily string lessons to Daraja String Students for six weeks. Since then the program has grown to include over 100 string students in Moshi.
Ms. Herndon serves as President of the American Viola Society. She received her Masters Degree from the Juilliard School where she studied with Heidi Castleman, Hsin-Yun Huang and Misha Amory while serving as a Teaching Assistant to Ms. Castleman. She also holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Eastman, where she studied with George Taylor and graduated with High Honors.
Hillary Herndon’s website: www.hillaryherndon.com
Prospective Students
We look forward to getting to know you! The best way to learn if the University of Tennessee is the right program for you is to schedule a prospective student visit. Take a complimentary lesson with Hillary Herndon, observe an academic class or a rehearsal, come to viola technique or studio class, and meet current students.
To set up a visit, please feel free to e-mail Hillary Herndon (hherndon@utk.edu) to schedule a visit. Sara Carroll (scarro33@utk.edu) serves as the College of Music Student Engagement Coordinator and can help arrange a “Music Student for the day” visitations and answer questions about the audition and application process. Do not hesitate to contact her or Hillary Herndon with any questions that may arise as you begin the application process.
Audition Requirements
Undergraduate Viola – Performance
- One movement of unaccompanied J.S. Bach, either from a Cello Suite or Violin Sonata or Partita
- One movement of a concerto
- Any piece of candidate’s choice that showcases their musical interests
Undergraduate Viola – Music Education & BA degrees
- Any two pieces from two different musical periods
Graduate Viola majors
- Excerpts from a recital program at least 30 minutes in length, including movements from no fewer than three contrasting compostions.
Non-majors
Non majors are welcome in the Viola Studio. Please contact Professor Herndon for more information.