American-Iranian Violist Muriel Razavi is in great demand as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician in the baroque as well as in the contemporary music field. Since the winter semester 2023/2024 she is teaching as Professor for Viola at both the University Mozarteum Salzburg and the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Trossingen.

She is currently pursuing her Doctorate at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre under the artistic supervision of Daniel Barenboim, researching Re-Orientalism in Music.

Muriel has been working on special concert designs and formats with music by Iranian composers of contemporary classical music from the “Iranian Female Composers Association” and commissioned the Viola Concerto “her path through clay and silk” composed by Golfam Khayam. In 2024 she played the Debut of Khayams Double Concerto for Viola and Santur with the Bridges Chamber Orchestra under the Baton of Nabil Shehata in the HR Sendesaal Frankfurt.

She received the Award for an Outstanding Program with Special Societal Relevance for her Viola Solo performance “ancient eve is once again offering apples” at the Dbü-Competition (2022) and performed her solo show at the Ultraschallfestival Berlin and the Heidelberger Frühling Music Festival.

Ms. Razavi is a first-prize winner of the International Washington String Competition (Washington D.C., 2018) and award winner of the international competitions Michael Spisak (Katowice, 2017) and Città di Cremona at the 43. International Viola Conference (Cremona, 2016). She has played at numerous festivals, including the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Stavelot Festival in Belgium, the Yeosu Festival in South Korea and the Musicales de Frutillar in Chile, where she also taught a masterclass.

Her international concert engagements, including principal roles with ensembles like the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the MDR Symphony Orchestra, and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, complement her diverse musical pursuits. Razavi’s chamber music collaborations feature esteemed artists such as Baiba Skride, Kian Soltani, Tobias Feldmann, Harriet Krijgh, and Frank Braley. Additionally, she is a member of the Ensemble Mutter’s Virtuosi, led by violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter.

Muriel Razavi studied with renowned musicians such as Tabea Zimmermann, Nils Mönkemeyer and Tatjana Masurenko. In 2019 she completed her Master’s Degree with honors under  Wilfried Strehle at the Universität der Künste in Berlin.

As a baroque violist, she deepened her knowledge of historical performance practice with the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble under the direction of Thomas Hengelbrock, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in London, the Il Pomo d’Oro Ensemble and the Le Concert Olympique Orchestra in Belgium.

Muriel Razavi performs on a French viola built for her by the luthier Patrick Robin and an Alemannic baroque viola from Dorothea van der Woerd.

Besides her musical studies, she has also completed a Bachelor’s Degree in The History and Culture of the Middle East – Iranian Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin as well as a Master’s Degree in Religion and Culture at the Humboldt University in Berlin.