Vali Phillips joined the Oregon Symphony in 2012. Before moving to Portland, Vali was a long-time member of the Minnesota Orchestra, with whom he served as principal second violin for 11 seasons before joining the first violin section in 2008. With three colleagues from the Minnesota Orchestra, Vali co-founded the Minneapolis Quartet, which won a McKnight Artist Fellowship in 2006.
Before coming to Minnesota, Vali served as concertmaster of the Savannah Symphony Orchestra, and associate concertmaster for both the Erie Philharmonic, and the Charleston Symphony. As a soloist, Vali has appeared with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as in recital at Carnegie Hall. Vali graduated from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied under Charles Castleman.
