Currently serving as Concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Richard Roberts has extensive violin experience. Mr Roberts made his debut as a soloist at the age of seventeen with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole. Following his debut, he studied violin at Indiana University with Josef Gingold, as well as chamber music with Janos Starker and William Primrose. Later, he traveled to Switzerland and studied with violinist Henryk Szeryng.
Richard Roberts has performed the entire cycle of Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for violin at the Cleveland Institute of Art. He has performed solos around the world and has often played rarely performed works with the MSO.
As a teacher, Mr Roberts has served on the faculties at the University of Minnesota, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Conservatoire de Musique du Quebec, McGill University, Domaine Forget, the Meadowmount School of Music and the National Orchestral Institute. In addition to presenting numerous masterclasses, he has been a jurist for the Montreal International Violin Competition in 1987 and the Andrea Postacchini Competition in Italy in 2003, as well as many other competitions worldwide.
Violin students at PRISMA 2014 will be working with this world class violinist in masterclasses, rehearsals and even private lessons. Mr Roberts will be instructing at PRISMA while one of last season's violinists, Andrew Wan, is away on leave.