Featured Guest

Molly Sharp, Principal Violist of the Richmond Symphony, teaches viola at Virginia  Commonwealth University and played in the Oberon String Quartet for 22 years. Molly is  also the creator of VlaTutti.com, which provides resources for violists that elevate teaching,  learning, and performing through the joy of collaboration.

A native of Fayetteville, AR, Molly received a Bachelor’s Degree from Vanderbilt University/ Blair School of Music, studying with Kathryn Plummer. She received her Master’s Degree  from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Heidi Castleman and  apprenticed with the Cavanni Quartet. In addition to playing with the Richmond Symphony,  Molly has also been a member of the Nashville Symphony and the Glimmerglass Opera  Orchestra. Molly has played chamber music with many different groups and festivals,  including the Chamber Music Festival of Central Virginia, Richmond Chamber Players, ACE  (Atlantic Chamber Ensemble), the Fulbright Summer Chamber Music Series (Fayetteville,  AR), the Cascade Music Festival (Bend, OR), and the Santa Fe Symphony Summer Series.

As the principal violist with the Richmond Symphony, Molly has been a featured soloist with  the Richmond Symphony in works such as Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, Vaughn-Williams’  Flos Campi, Hugo Wolf ’s Italian Serenade, Rebecca Clarke’s Sonata, and Strauss’ Don Quixote.  Other solo performances include Berlioz’s Harold in Italy and Bloch’s Suite for Viola and  Orchestra with the Richmond Philharmonic.

A dedicated and experienced teacher, Molly is on the faculty of Virginia Commonwealth  University, where she teaches Viola Performance majors, gives sectionals for the VCU  University Orchestra, and teaches a weekly studio class. She has given Masterclasses at  University of Virginia, Violapalooza at VCU, Texas Tech, University of Wisconsin/ Milwaukee, the Contemporary Youth Orchestra in Cleveland, as well as many public schools  in the Central Virginia area.

As a way to bring the love of chamber music to the layman, Molly has created and led  experiential workshops for adults, to give those who don’t play an instrument the experience  of playing chamber music.

Molly was recently honored to be a guest on the Richmond Symphony podcast “Can Someone Give Me An A?”.

You can follow Molly’s ongoing creative projects at mollysharpcreates.com