Darius Milhaud-Viola Concerto

Susanne van Els is recognized as one of the leading musicians in The Netherlands. She was awarded the Alcuinus Prize of the City of Nijmegen, The Netherlands in 1998, for her outstanding merits as a performing artist. An active soloist and chamber musician, Susanne van Els was (co)founder of the Ives Ensemble, Sinfonietta Amsterdam and Wendingen. She was also a member of such former successful groups as String Trio Holland (winners of several chamber music competitions and recipients of the Second Prize in the International Chamber Music Competition Melbourne 1991) and the Giotto Ensemble. Since 1991, she has been the violist of the Schönberg Ensemble, and she recently joined the newly founded New Amsterdam Peil. Susanne van Els has premiered several new concertos written for her by composers such as Willem Jeths, Mayke Nas, and Ron Ford. She gave the Dutch premiere of Ligeti's solo viola sonata. A multitude of composers, including Louis Andriessen, have written solo pieces for her. She soloed in a series of live broadcasted concerts in the Hindemith Year and appeared as a soloist in Klaas de Vries' opera A King Riding. She has performed in music theatre works with the theatre companies ZT Hollandiaand NT Gent. Her theatre activities include acting as well as being a musician on stage. Susanne van Els plays a viola built by Carlo Antonio Testore, anno 1745.