About Dr. Alice Lindsay

“Her tone is uncommonly smooth and rich…and her musical effects are direct and eager to please” -- Peter Davis, The New York Times

A native Philadelphian, Dr. Alice Lindsay began studying the violin at age 10. During her formative years, her teachers included Philadelphia Orchestra members Veda Reynolds and Joseph Primavera. She attended Oberlin College as a scholarship student of Elaine Lee Richey, assistant to Ivan Galamian at the Curtis Institute. During this time she changed her major instrument from violin to viola and completed her undergraduate degree at Temple University. Upon graduation, she won auditions with Leopold Stokowski for the Houston Symphony, and with Paul Kletzki for the Dallas Symphony. After her tenure in Dallas, she received her Master’s Degree from Temple University and her Doctorate of Musical Arts from Combs College of Music where she studied with Joseph DePasquale, principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Alice Lindsay was the violist of the Berlin and the Paganiniana String Quartets, and appeared as a chamber musician with Erick Friedman and Sandy Rivers, Norman Carol, Stephen Balderston, Jasha Simkins, Emanuel Borok, Lawrence Leighten Smith, among many other recognized artists. She performed and recorded world premieres of Norman Dello Joio’s Lyric Fantasies for Viola and Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and Serpentine, Lyrical Instances for Solo Viola and Imaginary Dancer, by Claire Polin, which was dedicated to her. 

Subsequently, Dr. Lindsay joined the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra as associate principal viola, and at the recommendation of Dr. Samuel Applebaum performed her New York debut recital to a sold-out audience at Alice Tully Hall. Currently, she is Artist-in-Residence at Loyola University and the International Music Institute of New Orleans. She has served on the faculties of Rutgers University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Philadelphia Musical Academy, and Fairleigh Dickinson University, and for summer institutes at Shenandoah Conservatory, Hartt College of Music, and Southern Methodist University. She has taught alongside her mentors violist Paul Doktor, and renowned pedagogue Dr. Samuel Applebaum, both influential in her approach to teaching and performing.

She has a lifetime of experience developing educational programs across the United States, including building the Orchestral Programs at Southern Methodist University with Anshel Brusilow, as well as serving as recruiter and faculty member for The Juilliard at SMU Summer Festival and School, founding the FAME Festival, New Jersey Youth Symphony, and the Cherry Hill Philharmonic, to name a few. She has taught chamber music in Prague, Vienna, and Italy, and masterclasses at the American String Teacher’s Association Conferences in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maine, and New York where she has also appeared as viola soloist. Her publications include writer-editor for the Viola Forum for the Virginia String Teachers Association Journal (VASTA).

Dr. Lindsay currently resides in Williamsburg, Virginia. She continues to encourage her students’ successes in her private teaching studio, and enjoys producing the Virtuosi@Grace chamber series in Kilmarnock, Virginia. The Philadelphia International Music Festival and Camp, featuring members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, has recently launched her Viola Intensive Program (VIP) for viola students ages 11 to 19.

Alice Lindsay performs on her beloved viola, made in 1950, by Philadelphia luthier Adolph Primavera.