Scott Slapin

Placeholder Picture

“If any contemporary violist continues to carry the torch of the composer-performer, it is Scott Slapin.”  -Journal of the American Viola Society

“Slapin’s magnificient playing says ‘Bring it on!’” -Fanfare

“Scott Slapin is great!” -Ruggiero Ricci

“well-designed music…emotionally expressive and varied” -New Jersey Star Ledger

“The virtuosity and musicality of Scott Slapin’s performances…surely cannot be improved upon.” -Musical Opinion

“Slapin is a real viola virtuoso…” -American Record Guide

You are currently listening to an excerpt from Scott Slapin’s The South Hadley Mass from the album The Seasons,
performed by the American Viola Quartet.
Click here to see more than 75 additional videos of Scott Slapin’s compositions and playing at YouTube.
Placeholder Picture

Scott Slapin's compositions have been performed by hundreds of musicians in concert halls throughout the Americas and Europe; at international competitions/workshops including the ARD, Primrose, and Tertis; and on eight albums of violacentric chamber music. A prolific composer of recital music for viola, he has written extensively for viola duo, viola choir, viola in mixed ensembles, string quartet, and unaccompanied viola.

Scott is the first person to have recorded the complete cycle of J.S. Bach Sonatas and Partitas on viola and the featured soloist for dozens of premiere recordings by 20th and 21st Century composers. For more than twenty years, Scott and his wife violist Tanya Solomon have been performing together as the award-winning Slapin-Solomon Viola Duo. Scott maintains a private teaching studio (violin, viola, and composition) in South Hadley and Amherst, Massachusetts as well as worldwide via Skype. He plays instruments by Hiroshi Iizuka.

“…great talent not only as a violist but as a composer” -Journal of the American Viola Society

“Quite impressive… the work was well stated and at times very moving.” -The Home News (NJ)

“first rate viola virtuoso…” -Journal of the Canadian Viola Society

“instrumentista exceptional” -Mundo Clasico

“wonderful playing… sonorous and rich” -The New York Violist

“tonal and rhythmic command” -Strad Magazine

“Slapin’s…Nocturne is a soulful, sad, and moving piece in the vein of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings.” -All Music Guide

For more editorial reviews, click here.
Photos by Tanya Solomon