VIOLIST RICHARD O¡¯NEILL is one of the very few violists ever to receive an Avery Fisher Career Grant as well as a Grammy Award Nomination (Best Soloist with Orchestra). Concerto appearances include the London Philharmonic with Vladimir Jurowski, the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Miguel Harth Bedoya, the Seoul Philharmonic with François Xavier Roth, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Alte Musik Köln and Sejong. Highlights of this season include performances with the London Philharmonic with conductors Vassily Sinaisky and Yannick Nézet-Séguin in Royal Festival Hall at London¡¯s South Bank Centre, as well as on tour to Seoul Arts Center and the National Concert Hall of Madrid, a sold-out Kennedy Center debut with pianist Warren Jones, his third season as Artistic Director of DITTO, his South Korean chamber music initiative featuring four concerts at Seoul Arts Center and a 10 concert nationwide tour, as well as his 5th solo recording for Deutsche Gramophone
A UNIVERSAL Classics Recording Artist, he has made four solo albums that have sold well over 100,000 copies. His two most recent albums, Winter Journey for Deutsche Gramophone and Mysterioso for ARCHIV Produktion, have both earned him Platinum Disc Awards. His 2nd album, Lachrymae for UNIVERSAL Korea was the best selling Classical as well as International Pop Recording of 2006. His fifth album for Deutsche Gramophone will be released this December. Much in demand, he was recently appointed to the roster of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center as an Artist of the Society, becoming the third violist in the Society¡¯s history after Walter Trampler and Paul Neubauer. He also serves as the resident violist of Camerata Pacifica. A popular figure in South Korea, he was the subject of a two-part, five-hour documentary for the Korean Broadcasting System that was broadcast to over 15 million people, and has been featured on all of Korea¡¯s major television networks, radio, newspapers and magazines. In the United States, he has appeared on PBS Live from Lincoln Center and CNN, served as Young Artist-in-Residence for National Public Radio in Washington D.C., and has been featured on national radio broadcasts of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The first violist to receive the Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School, he holds a Bachelors of Music, magna cum laude from The University of Southern California and a Master of Music from The Juilliard School.  He has studied with Paul Neubauer and Donald McInnes.  Residing in New York City and Los Angeles, he was recently honored with a Proclamation from the New York City Council for his achievement and contribution to the Arts.  A dedicated teacher as well as performer, Mr. O¡¯Neill serves on the faculty of the Herb Alpert School of Music at the University of California, Los Angeles as its youngest member. He plays on a fine and rare viola made by Giovanni Tononi, of Bologna, circa 1699.