Lisa Ralia Heffter, Viola

Lisa Ralia Heffter, Viola

Chamber Music Coach

Lisa Ralia Heffter, violist and composer, received her Master’s  degree from The Juilliard School, won the award for orchestral excellence at Tanglewood, toured Europe with France’s award winning Manfred String Quartet, then returned to New York City   to compose, landing a premier of her first impressionist quartet at Weill Recital Hall reviewed as “astonishingly beautiful” by the NY Times.                         

Eventually Heffter struck a balance between composing and performing. She founded The Bordeaux String Quartet playing public NYC concerts sponsored by Rudin Management, toured with the Elysium String Quartet, and accepted an invitation to spend a year in Beijing, where she coached and played solo and chamber concerts, and became principal violist for the Beijing Chamber Ensemble. While in China, Heffter also visited elementary schools to teach K-4th graders western songs. (“pure joy!”)    

Finally settling back in NYC, Heffter is now a freelance musician. She composes and performs with ArtsAhimsa Chamber players in NYC and Lenox, MA., she coaches for The Chamber Music Center, and teaches strings and composition at The Calhoun School.                       

Heffter also plays viola in the Manhattan Symphony and DCINY orchestras which perform at Carnegie Hall and David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. This past year, Heffter was chosen to perform solo viola for DCINY, playing Takach's  Epitaph for Chorus and Solo Viola at Lincoln Center.