Violist Pierre Lapointe is the violist and co-founder of the acclaimed Escher String Quartet. Lapointe earned a D.M.A. degree from the Manhattan School of Music in 2012 after writing a thesis about the unusual structure of Alexander Zemlinsky’s second string quartet. Almost simultaneously, Lapointe finished a two-year recording project of the complete cycle of quartets written by Zemlinsky for the Naxos label.
Lapointe received a prize in 2004 from the lieutenant governor of Quebec for his work at the Gatineau Music Conservatory. In March 2002, Lapointe performed one of his own compositions for the radio show “Jeunes Artistes” of Radio-Canada in Montreal to great acclaim. Lapointe was also awarded a gold medal in 2000 by the University of Ottawa for his undergraduate studies in composition and violin performance.
Born in Hull, Canada, Lapointe started violin lessons at age 5 with Yaela Hertz Berkson and studied violin with Calvin Sieb and composition with Steven Gellman at the University of Ottawa before devoting himself entirely to the viola.
As an educator, Lapointe is often invited by universities and music schools to coach chamber music groups and give master classes to viola students. He has taught at Stony Brook University, Manhattan School of Music Precollege and is presently an adjunct associate professor at SMU Meadows School of the Arts.
