Steven O. Laraia

Steven O. Laraia joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra viola section in the fall of 2019 after serving as principal viola of the Sarasota Orchestra from 2015 to 2019. He has performed at music festivals including Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Yellow Barn Music Festival, and Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, and has toured in the U.S., Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, the Czech Republic, and Cuba with Sejong Soloists, A Far Cry, and Sphinx Virtuosi. Laraia has garnered top prizes at many competitions including the 2014 Hellam Competition, 2012 NEC Concerto Competition, 2012 MUSICCAS International Young Artists Competition, the Sphinx Competition, and he received the 2014 Borromeo Guest Artist Award. He holds a bachelor degree and Master of Music from New England Conservatory, where he received the Abraham Skernick Memorial Presidential Scholarship. Laraia’s principal mentors include Kim Kashkashian, Dimitri Murrath, Cathy Basrak, Byrnina Socolofsky, and Che-Hung Chen.