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Misha Galaganov, viola
Dr. Misha Galaganov is Professor of Viola and Chair of Strings at Texas Christian University (TCU). While he was still a student in 1998, he was invited to join the New Orlando Quartet in Amsterdam, Holland and was engaged by Young Artists International for concerts in the USA. In 2000, Galaganov accepted a full time teaching position at TCU as viola and chamber music professor. TCU had no students majoring in viola in 2000, but Galaganov managed to build his viola studio to full capacity in just three years. Now his former viola and violin students can be heard as Principals in orchestras, university teachers, soloists, and chamber music performers.
An avid proponent of chamber music, Galaganov is the founder and director/coordinator of the following programs: Chamber Music Roundup festival, which gives amateur musicians the rare opportunity to rehearse and perform with top concert artists in the same ensembles; Chamber Music Roundup Academy for amateur musicians that functions on semester basis; Chamber Music Roundup Intensive String Quartet Seminar for string students of the highest level; Student Chamber Music at Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute; Chamber Music Program at the Youth Orchestra of the Greater Fort Worth; and Chamber Music Center in Steinway Hall, Fort Worth (co-founder).
Galaganov is a member of Trio Con Brio, a unique group combining viola, clarinet (Gary Whitman), and piano (John Owings). The group has received fifteen new compositions in the last fifteen years from several composers of different countries around the world. Trio’s performances and premieres of new works took place in many prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall and Shanghai Concert Hall. The group released an Albany Records CD, “A Musical Celebration,” with works by Eric Ewazen (USA) and Elena Sokolovski (Israel), written for the ensemble.
Galaganov’s solo and chamber music engagements have taken him to concert halls in the USA, Middle East, Latin America, Europe, and China. He has given lectures and master classes in major conservatories around the world, including Juilliard, Rice University, Beijing Conservatory, and Shanghai Conservatory. He has taught and performed in several European and American Festivals, such as EuroArts festival in Germany, Orlando Festival in Holland, and Mimir festival, Summit Music Festival, Conservatory Music in the Mountains, and Wintergreen Festival in the USA. Galaganov performs on a French viola, Mansuy a Paris.