Welcome to

Michael Kimber’s

VIOLA HOMEPAGE

and



ABOUT MICHAEL KIMBER

Please visit links below for information about:

• music for viola (and other instruments, too) by Michael Kimber
• 2010 recipient of the American Viola Society’s prestigious
Founders Award in recognition of his compositions for viola
• 2023 recipient of the International Viola Society’s prestigious
Silver Alto Clef award in recognition of his contributions to
viola repertoire and pedagogy worldwide



• solos, duets and more, from elementary through advanced levels
• Kimber’s widely adopted Scales, Arpeggios, and Double Stops
for viola and violin

Eminent Polish violist Marcin Murawski, in collaboration with colleagues and
talented students, has recorded seven CDs of Michael Kimber’s music for viola
solo, viola with string orchestra, and viola ensemble on the Acte Préalable label.
Here are further details about Murawski’s CDs, including a
limited-time discount on the purchase of three or more CDs!

Learn more about Michael Kimber’s appealing solo and ensemble MUSIC.
To order music, click on HOW TO ORDER, or send an e-mail to Michael Kimber.


• the world-famous poly-pad shoulder rest for violin and viola



“secure, comfortable support with a shoulder pad you almost don’t feel!”
Since 1990 the poly-pad has found its way to every state in the U.S.
and to over twenty foreign countries and has been enthusiastically
adopted as the shoulder rest of first choice by many teachers, who
praise it for encouraging good playing posture in their students.

Learn more about the amazing (as so many players have described it!) POLY-PAD.
To order poly-pads, click on HOW TO ORDER, or send an e-mail to Michael Kimber.

Please don’t confuse the poly-pad with other foam pads that look similar.
I haven’t seen one that has the poly-pad’s unique shape that has been
praised by countless teachers and players as the best they’ve ever found.


• Michael Kimber, violist, composer, and pedagogue   
• Biography
• Recent and Upcoming Performances
If you will be performing or have recently performed any of my music,
please email me at mkimber@centurylink.net with details.
As a living composer, I am always very happy to hear from you.
I also offer supportive FREE coaching on my music via FaceTime or Zoom
for students, amateurs, or professionals. Please don't be bashful!


• other items of possible interest to string players, including:
• The Practice Bow and The Fingerboard, two practice aids from violist Kathryn Plummer
• straightforward and informative videos on intonation by pedagogue Kurt Sassmannshaus
• a short intonation survey that you can take, report your results, and get feedback! (.pdf)
• a chart comparing melodic and harmonic intonation with equal temperament (.pdf)
• an essay about playing melodically and harmonically in tune (.pdf)
• an essay about what your teacher never told you about intonation (.pdf)
• an essay about how to convert musical interval frequency ratios to cents (.pdf)
• Michael Kimber’s 43-page DMA lecture recital paper (.pdf, 3.7 MB),
Intonation Variables in the Performance of Twelve-Tone Music
• The one-page abstract of Kimber’s DMA lecture recital paper (.pdf)


• We violists always love a good joke (as long as it's not about us!).
In that vein, here are some amusing(?) items.
• A humorous (?) article about Hoffmeister's famous viola concerto (.pdf)
• The author's notes on the writing of the previous article (.pdf)
• Some outrageous humor (?) about Michael Kimber's mythical ancestry
• Speculation on the origin of the viola(?)/cello(?) suites of J. S. Bach

     

Created February 10, 1998. Updated November 16, 2024.

---