Stephanie Block is a third-year Viola Fellow at the New World Symphony. Praised by the Sarasota Observer as “exceptionally talented” and “a virtuosic performer,” she has performed as a soloist with several Chicago-area symphonies and gave the U.S. premiere of Alejandro Cardona’s Sweet Tijuana: Danzas Fronterizas for Viola and Orchestra with the New Juilliard Ensemble. Ms. Block has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, and the London Symphony Orchestra. She was featured on PBS NewsHour and has appeared on the PBS American Masters series with Michael Tilson Thomas. Ms. Block has worked with several renowned chamber musicians, including Michael Tree, Shmuel Ashkenasi and Ralph Kirshbaum, as well as the Brentano, Borromeo and Miró quartets. She has worked under many renowned conductors including Gustavo Dudamel, Jaap van Zweden, Stéphane Denève, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Marin Alsop. She also has a passion for jazz music and performed with Wynton Marsalis at Dizzy’s Jazz Club in New York as part of Daniel Chmielinski’s Four by Four. As a chamber musician, Ms. Block has performed as a substitute and guest artist with the Amernet String Quartet and is an artist at the Sitka Music Festival. She received several awards in Chicago-area competitions and the Gold Medal in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. She. Ms. Block has attended several chamber music summer festivals, including the Taos School of Music and Heifetz Institute’s Ashkenasi-Kirshbaum Chamber Music program. As a member of Quartet 63, she performed for several premiere events for the TV series “Mozart in the Jungle.” Ms. Block is also a faculty artist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chamber Music Workshop. As an orchestral musician, Ms. Block has held several principal roles, including in the Juilliard Orchestra. She has regularly performed as principal in the New World Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas. In 2017 she was selected to tour to Helsinki and Stockholm as a member of the joint symphony of the Juilliard and Sibelius Academy orchestras under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen. She also performed as a principal member of the Salomé Chamber Orchestra. In addition to her orchestral experience, Ms. Block has performed with the Æon Music Ensemble with whom she was a soloist in a performance at Carnegie Weill Hall. Born in Barrington, Illinois, Ms. Block began her initial studies with Deborah Inman and Desirée Ruhstrat. She received both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School under Heidi Castleman, Hsin-Yun Huang, Misha Amory and Cynthia Phelps. A survivor of the rare cancer Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis, Ms. Block is committed to using her art to promote awareness. Supported by the New World Symphony BLUE project fund, she organized a chamber music fundraiser at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center to fundraise for the Histiocytosis Association. Throughout the past two NWS seasons, she has organized monthly visits to perform for patients. She has also been invited to be a recurring headline speaker at the Miami Cancer Institute’s ‘Inspire You’ series. Outside of music, Ms. Block is a runner and triathlete. She is a division winner in the Miami Man and Chicago Supersprint Triathlons and a top finisher in the Chicago Triathlon. She recently qualified for the 2022 USA Triathlon Age Group National Championship.