Affiliate Artist, Viola
Joyce A. Ramée, Affiliate Artist Faculty, Viola, has enjoyed a long and varied
musical career in the Pacific Northwest. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of
Music in Philadelphia, as a student of Max Aronoff and Joseph DePasquale,
Ms. Ramée was also a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center. As a student,
she performed under conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa,
Robert Shaw and Kurt Masur. In 1987, Ms. Ramee moved to Seattle and
joined the School of Music Faculty as viola professor at the University of
Puget Sound, a position she has held ever since. Her studio at Puget Sound
includes all college violists and a broad range of Community Music students
of all levels and musical ambitions. In 1990, she founded the Max Aronoff
Viola Institute, a nationally recognized music festival, and served as its
director for its 28 years of operation. This Institute trained more than 900
string players and sent many aspiring violists into colleges, conservatories,
graduate schools and professional careers in music.
Joyce Ramée is an active performer in recital work and solo engagements
with local orchestras, having appeared with the Everett Symphony and
Tacoma Youth Symphony (Paul Elliott Cobbs), Lake Union Civic Orchestra
(Christophe Chagnard), Philharmonia Northwest (Roupen Shakarian), Grays
Harbor Chamber Orchestra (Bill Dyer), Tacoma Community College Orchestra
(John Falskow) and the University of Puget Sound Symphony (Edward
Seferian and Christophe Chagnard). Ms Ramée recently gave two North
American Premier performances of José Aranda’s viola concerto, Cuatro
Escenas de Sur, in collaboration with Maestro Paul Elliott Cobbs. Recent
recitals at Puget Sound include George Walker’s epic Viola Sonata in 2019
and a 2024 Jacobsen Series Artist Recital with pianist Karen Ganz. Ms.
Ramée is a founding member of both the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra
and the Auburn Symphony. Outside of professional activities, she is a
member of the choir and a music volunteer at St. Luke’s Church in Renton
and a member of the Dante Alighieri Society of Washington. Joyce lives in
Seattle with her husband, French hornist Rodger Burnett, and their cat.