Claudia Hofert, Viola

Claudia Hofert heard the COE for the first time in 1986 at the Berlin Philharmonie under the baton of Claudio Abbado.

Claudia studied the viola with Hirofumi Fukai and Harolf Schlichting and attended Masterclasses with Thomas Riebl and Kim Kashkashian and Peter Schidlof from the Amadeus Quartet. As a student, she was principal viola in the European Community Youth Orchestra.

Claudia took part in a number of Chamber Music Festivals including Lockenhaus, Rudolf Serkin’s Marlboro Music and the Open Chamber Music in Prussia Cove, Cornwall.

The Hungarian violinist Sandor Vegh had a particularly strong influence on her musical approach, especially during her time (more than ten years) as principal viola in Camerata Salzburg, an ensemble which he founded and directed. Whilst at Camerata Salzburg, Claudia also performed with resident conductors Sir Roger Norrington and Leonidas Kavakos as well as Franz Welser-Möst and Trevor Pinnock.

As a player on period instruments, Claudia was a member of Roel Dieltjens’s Ensemble Exploration and the Balthasar-Neumann Ensemble, founded by Thomas Hengelbrock. She plays with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. As a guest principal viola she was invited to play with Deutsche Kammerakademie Bremen and Kammerakademie Potsdam.