Instrument: Viola
Originally from: Calgary, Canada
Now reside in: NY, NY and Vancouver, BC
Age: 30s
Birthday: June 16
How did you get started? Piano at 3; Violin at 6½; Viola at 14.
What do you do when you’re not playing with ROCO? Principal Viola of Vancouver Opera, Freelancing in NYC, Biking, Backpacking, Kayaking.
What are you listening to on your iPod? Don’t own an iPod! Call me old-fashioned, but I still enjoy putting a CD in the ol’ CD player (anything from Jazz to Indian Classical) and I love listening to NPR at home.
Personal info: Single, one cat, one bicycle, 2 violas, 1 violin and 5 viola cases!
Question you’re asked most often: Why is there a “W” in your name?! Answer: I am named for my great grandmother Tatyana, and my parents wanted the diminutive for my given name. Having traditionally been spelled Tanya, the Canadian pronunciation gave it a twang with a short ‘a’ and they thought the phonetically linked version with a “W” (lawn, dawn, fawn) would solve the problem…and provide me with an everlasting adventure in spellings!
Interests outside music: Biking, kayaking, hiking, backpacking, museums, travelling to non-tourist destinations, knitting, origami, designing my own version of anything (food, picture frames, mittens), baking, cooking, discovering fabulous food and wines.
Education: Perfomance Diploma, Mount Royal College, Calgary, AB; BMus, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; MMus, Rice University, Houston, TX
Bio: Canadian violist Tawnya Popoff enjoys a versatile international career. In addition to being principal violist with the Vancouver Opera (Canada), she is a founding member of the Athabasca String Trio, and performs regularly with VisionIntoArt (VIA) (NY), the New York Miniaturist Ensemble, and the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (TX). She was a prizewinner in the 2000 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and has served on the faculties of the Perlman Music Program, University of Pennsylvania, Syracuse University, SUNY Buffalo, American Composers Orchestra and the Bowdoin International Music Festival.
Ms. Popoff has a keen interest in inter-disciplinary collaborations and has ongoing collaborations with various dance companies (currently Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance in NYC) in addition to the multi-media group VIA. She is also devoted to developing and performing music by living composers and as a member of the Cassatt Quartet, she was vitally involved in commissioning, premiering and recording works from leading American composers. Tawnya Popoff’s viola was played by Boris Kroyt of the Budapest Quartet, generously loaned to her by courtesy of his grandson.
