Bethany Hargreaves

Violist Bethany Hargreaves has performed as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician across North America, Europe, China, and Israel. Notable performances include her solo debut on Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and two concerto appearances with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra. Most recently, Hargreaves appeared on a Yale School of Music Faculty Artist Series and, in the summer of 2021 at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, was called in on three days notice to perform with the Emerson String Quartet.

A passionate chamber musician, Hargreaves has collaborated in concert with distinguished musicians such as Julio Elizalde, Jennifer Frautschi, Miriam Fried, Ara Gregorian, Dimitri Murrath, Ani Kavafian, Itzhak Perlman, as well as members of the Aizuri Quartet, Cleveland Quartet, Emerson String Quartet, and the Orion String Quartet. She currently performs with multiple New York City based chamber music ensembles including Center for Musical Excellence, New York Classical Players, the Versoi Ensemble, and Noree Chamber Soloists, the latter with whom she held a residency at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute. 

Hargreaves’ festival appearances include the Aspen Music Festival and School, Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and New Music Workshop, Olympic Music Festival, Taos School of Music, Toronto Summer Music Festival, and the Perlman Music Program Summer Music School and Chamber Music Workshop. During her years of association with the Perlman Music Program, she has participated in residencies in Sarasota, Florida, and Tel Aviv, Israel. Hargreaves has also engaged in extensive community engagement through the Perlman Music Program, which included interactive performances on Long Island, New York City, and Sarasota in schools and assisted living facilities. Other appearances with the Perlman Music Program include performances in Bing Hall at Stanford University, the Ringling Museum of Art, and the Sarasota Opera House. 

Hargreaves currently holds positions in the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and New Haven Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with the Blossom Festival Orchestra, Erie Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, and the Sarasota Orchestra. She has served as principal viola of the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, Yale Philharmonia, and Sarasota Orchestra. While at The Juilliard School, Hargreaves was selected as principal viola for the 2017 Juilliard Orchestra Scandinavian tour in collaboration with the Sibelius Academy under Finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. 

Hargreaves began studying violin with Rebecca Ensworth at the age of five and later switched to viola when she was twelve years old, studying with Louise Zeitlin. Her other primary teachers include Misha Amory, Heidi Castleman, Ettore Causa, Jeffrey Irvine, and Lynne Ramsey. She holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, The Juilliard School as a Kovner Fellowship recipient, and the Yale School of Music as a Stephen and Denise Adams Fellowship and Grosvenor Memorial Prize for Viola Accomplishment recipient. 

Hargreaves currently resides in New Haven with her husband, violinist Gregory Lewis. She plays on a viola made by her dear friend, Gabrielle Kundert.