Bradley Ottesen, Viola

Bradley Ottesen, a performer of “warmly rich, opulent tone” (Washington Post) is the violist of the internationally acclaimed Fry Street Quartet, the quartet-in-residence at Utah State University, where Mr. Ottesen holds the position of Professor of Professional Practice in viola and chamber music.

Bradley began his studies at the Preucil School of Music in Iowa City, IA, a program that played an important role in pioneering the Suzuki Method in this country. His first teacher was William Preucil, Sr, the longtime violist of the Stradivari Quartet, the quartet-in-residence at the University of Iowa, and hearing the expressive sound of a quartet violist from an early age would make chamber music a fundamental part of his musical DNA.

He would go on to earn degrees from Northwestern University and the New England Conservatory, his principal teachers including Peter Slowik and James Dunham (another quartet violist!), and received further guidance from musicians such as cellist Bernard Greenhouse, violinist Eric Rosenblith, and members of the Juilliard, Muir, and Cleveland string quartets.

Over the course of a diverse career, Mr. Ottesen has held orchestral positions in both the United States and Canada, and his education included formative experiences with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, New World Symphony, and the Tanglewood Music Center, working extensively under the batons of the great conductors Pierre Boulez, Seiji Ozawa, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Daniel Barenboim.

Deeply committed to education, Mr. Ottesen is a co-founder of the Fry Street Chamber Music Festival, and has been on the viola and chamber music faculty of Madeleine Island Chamber Music Festival, Credo Chamber Music Festival, and the Officina de Musica in Curitiba, Brazil. He has been a guest artist at Brigham Young University, the University of Iowa, Oberlin Conservatory, and many other institutions, and in 2015 he was invited to give a masterclass at the American String Teachers Association’s national convention. As the current President of the Utah Viola Society, Mr. Ottesen has worked to organize vibrant and inclusive events for the entire local viola community. 

Bradley has a strong belief in nature conservancy and a love for the great outdoors, and he lives in Logan, Utah with his wife Denise and their many animals. These include a Desert Tortoise named Rose - a protected species adopted through the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

Mr. Ottesen is privileged to perform on a rare viola by Giovanni Battista Rogeri, ca. 1700.