Nathan Theodore, viola, 2022, has won The Notre Dame Annual Concerto Competition with the Forsyth Viola Concerto. He will solo on February 27, 2026 with the University of Notre Dames’s Symphony Orchestra, performing the Strauss Fledermaus Overture, Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 at the Debartolo Performing Arts Center, Leighton Concert Hall.
Praised for his projecting and accurate tone, violist, Nathan Theodore, studied with Mariana Green Hill, Dubravka (Dubi) Moshfegh, and Michael Zaretsky of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. At the New England Conservatory (NEC), he earned a level III Certificate with honors and was a semifinalist in the 2017 NEC Concerto Competition. That same year, at the age of 13, Nathan auditioned into Benjamin Zander’s world-renown Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (BPYO) and has toured throughout Europe, Brazil, and Greece.
Nathan has performed in various masterclasses and recitals including a performance for Rebecca Young, Associate Principal viola of the New York Philharmonic. As a 9th-grader, he participated in the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) Eastern District Senior Festival Orchestra and All-State Festival Orchestra. He also auditioned into BEAM (Bridge to Equity and Achievement in Music), Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI), and was the violist for STEP’s Honor’s Quartet for four years.
As a student mentor, Nathan helped younger students develop musical and theory skills. He was awarded the 2019 Arthur Kravitz Scholar award for one advanced Project STEP student based upon merit, dedication, and community Involvement. He also was awarded the 2021 George James Webb Scholar award for dedication, and commitment. In 2022, through STEP’s partnership with Ashmont Hill Chamber Music, Nathan collaborated and performed in concert with renowned professional violinist and Itzhak Perlman protégé, Randall Goosby. This performance was well received and reviewed by Lee Eiseman publisher of the Boston Musical Intelligencer and by A.Z. Madonna for the Boston Globe.
Nathan joined Project STEP through the Kindergarten FOCUS program in 2010. He is currently a senior student at Notre Dame on a full scholarship, studying Chemical Engineering and Viola. He is the principal violist of the University’s Symphony Orchestra.
