Western faculty, students perform at International Viola Congress in Paris
Repertoire inspired by Northern Tornadoes Project, premiered student composition
Hundreds of violists from around the world recently gathered in Paris to share and deepen their passion for the viola. Among them, faculty and students from Western.
Don Wright Faculty of Music students Emily Hiemstra, Cian Diamond and Lincoln St. John, along with viola professor Sharon Wei, performed at the 50th International Viola Congress, which featured a series of concerts, workshops and masterclasses.
The Western quartet earned their spot on the program following Wei’s successful response to a global call for applications.
“I wanted to give my students an experience they hadn’t had before,” said Wei, one of Canada’s most respected violists and a past Western Faculty Scholar Award recipient. “I saw this as an amazing opportunity for them to be exposed to many new ideas, meet other students from around the world and perform in front of their peers.”
Wei and her students presented Sounding Tornadoes, a lecture recital extending the work she leads in collaboration with Western’s Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP). The interdisciplinary initiative showcases music inspired by NTP data, and other nature-inspired pieces, to inspire hope.
“Scientists are great problem-solvers who offer solutions that can be incorporated into our everyday life,” said Wei. “As musicians, our goal is for the audience to learn about their work and to know there is something they can do in response to climate change.”
Read full article (via Western News, January 30, 2026)
Pictured (l-r): Master of music composition student Emily Hiemstra, viola professor Sharon Wei, first-year viola student Lincoln St. John and second-year viola student Cian Diamond. (Alexia Hlynialuk/Western Music)
