Dr. Shelly Tramposh is Professor of Viola at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, where she teaches viola, chamber music, string pedagogy, traditional Irish fiddling, and serves as coordinator of the string area. Dr. Tramposh is also on the faculty of the Manitou Springs Chamber Music Festival, and performs recitals across the U.S. and abroad with pianist Cullan Bryant. She has given presentations, clinics, and workshops at ASTA national conferences, International Viola Society events, and throughout the United States and in Europe and Central America. Her articles have appeared in the Strad, and her CD “Sprezzatura” is available online. Gramophone praised her CD as “a disc that ought to hold appeal far beyond the viola community”, praising her “bright, silvery tone.”
Before joining the faculty at the Crane School of Music, Dr. Tramposh was a member of several orchestras, including the Colorado Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Colorado Springs Symphony, the Central City Opera Orchestra, the Berkeley Symphony, and the Marin Symphony. She attended many summer festivals, including the Taos Summer Chamber Music Academy, the National Repertory Orchestra, Eastern Music Festival, and three years with the Spoleto Festival/Festival dei due Mondi. As a faculty member at Eastern Music Festival, she presented workshops on auditioning with conductor Edmon Colomer.
Dr. Tramposh holds degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her principal teachers include Martha Katz, Steven Tenenbom, Erika Eckert, and Don Ehrlich, and she studied Suzuki pedagogy with Bill Starr and Teri Einfeldt. She is a past member of the executive board of the American Viola Society and an avid supporter of all things alto.
Dr. Tramposh plays a 1971 viola by Francesco Bissolotti.