Wesley O’Brien was born into a musical family, and began studying viola at age 6 and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree with elective studies in business at the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings in Macon, GA. At the Center, Wesley studies with Victoria Chiang and Rebecca Albers. Previously he was a student of Theresa Plotnick in Calgary and has performed in masterclasses for Heidi Castleman, Misha Amory, Hsin-Yun Huang, Ettore Causa, Sharon Wei, Patrick Jordan, and members of the Emerson, Cavani, Cleveland, Calidore and Escher Quartets. In 2019, he won the Alberta Provincial Music Festival and his string quartet won in 2018 and 2019. Wesley has an interest in historic performance practice and has performed on baroque viola for the past seven years. In 2019, he attended the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute as the youngest participant ever and has also performed with Rosa Barocca, Alberta’s professional baroque orchestra. The past two summers, Wesley has been a fellow at the Aspen Music Festival and School. He served as assistant principal viola of the Aspen Chamber Symphony in 2023 as a recipient of a Center for Orchestral Leadership Fellowship. Additionally, he has performed with the New World Symphony in Miami. Wesley has also attended the Danish String Quartet Festival in Kerteminde, Denmark, and performed at the Rome Chamber Music Festival.