Collegiate Affiliation

Professor: Viola

Korey Konkol was appointed to the School of Music in 1992. Before coming to Minnesota, he was a professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Having studied with Walter Trampler, Eugene Lehner, and Roland Vamos, Konkol holds degrees from Western Illinois University and the New England Conservatory of Music, where he graduated with academic honors and distinction in performance. Konkol's own students have placed in major competitions and/or hold positions in professional orchestras and string quartets; many of them teach.

Konkol, who has concertized throughout Europe, Latin and South America, has extensive experience in solo, chamber music, and orchestral performance. He often performs with the Minnesota Orchestra and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and was Principal Violist with the Ann Arbor, Peoria, and Knox-Galesburg Symphony Orchestras. As violist in Twin Cities-based Ensemble Capriccio, one of only several professional string trios in the world, he was awarded the first annual McKnight Foundation Fellowship for Performing Artists in 1997. Many compositions have been written for and recorded by Konkol, including works by Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, John Tartaglia, Stephen Paulus, Randall Davidson, and Judith Zaimont.

Konkol recently received the American Viola Society Founders Award for his Herculean efforts as Host and Chair of the XXXII International Viola Congress held in 2004 on the campus of the University of Minnesota. Konkol joined the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as a guest musician for its 2005-2006 season and soloed with a performance of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 6. Konkol was honored as the 2006 William Primrose Artist of the Year after presenting a recital and master class at Brigham Young University, Utah.