Alyssa Warcup Featured on WHYY’s “On Stage at Curtis”
“I’m going to leave [Curtis] feeling like I have a very solid technique and that I’ve had such an enriching experience broadening my musical worldviews. Curtis means the world to me.” —Alyssa Warcup
Season 19 of WHYY’s acclaimed On Stage at Curtis continues with a portrait of Alyssa Warcup. The prize-winning viola student and Illinois native entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2022 and studies with Roberto Díaz and Edward Gazouleas as the Edward Montgomery Fellow. Ms. Warcup previously earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Jeffrey Irvine, Lynne Ramsey, and Stanley Konopka.
Originally from the Chicago area, Ms. Warcup began her viola studies at age twelve and made her solo debut performing the Schnittke Viola Concerto with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra. She is the first prize winner of several competitions, including the National Federation of Music Clubs Biennial Collegiate Viola Competition and Wendell Irish Viola Award, as well as the Cleveland Institute of Music Concerto Competition. She also received the inaugural Howard E. Leisinger Viola Prize from the Tuesday Musical Association.
Click HERE to watch the On Stage at Curtis episode or click the video below.
In this episode of On Stage at Curtis, Ms. Warcup shares her unexpected journey to becoming a violist. She began piano lessons at her parents’ suggestion as a childhood hobby, with the understanding that if she found another instrument she liked better, she could switch. In fifth grade, at the school fair, she found herself initially drawn to the flute and violin, but a shortage of viola players led her teachers to gently steer her toward the viola—an instrument she ended up choosing somewhat by accident. Though reluctant to continue playing at first, she eventually knew she’d found her calling.
Ms. Warcup reflects on the solitary nature of classical music and the balance she strives to maintain at Curtis between practicing, studying, performing, and the outside world. She shares dreams of joining an orchestra, planting roots in one city, and building lasting connections in that community. She thrives in ensemble work and hopes to one day form a chamber group, commission new pieces, and record music by women composers and lesser-known viola repertoire. Her message to her future self: appreciate the journey—and be proud of all you’ve accomplished.
Live performances featured in the episode include Johannes Brahms’ String Sextet No. 2 in G major, Op. 36, and York Bowen’s Viola Sonata No. 1 in C minor, Op. 18, which was the first piece she played publicly at Curtis as part of the school’s Recital Series.
