Spotlight | Associate Principal Viola

Duncan Steele

Duncan Steele grew up in downtown Chicago and started learning violin when he was 4 years old. When he was 15, he started pursuing viola and quickly switched over to it as his main instrument. As a student of Atar Arad, Duncan pursued his bachelor’s and master’s degree at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Duncan has won various awards from the American String Teachers Association, the Society of American Musicians, the Music Festival in Honor of Confucius, and the Depaul Concerto Festival. At Indiana University, he was Principal Violist of the Philharmonic Orchestra from 2021-2022. He has had several masterclasses with artists such as Mimi Zweig, Victor Danchenko, Juliet White-Smith, Almita Vamos, Hal Grossman, and Gerardo Ribeiro. He has performed across Europe and Asia, as well as alongside renowned artists such as Brandon Vamos, Simin Ganatra, Eric Kim, Sarah Kapustin, and Jim Przygocki.