Described as "staggeringly virtuosic" by The Strad, Melia Watras is a prominent American violist. She is active as a performer and recording artist, both as a soloist and co-founder of the award-winning Corigliano Quartet. Throughout her career, Watras has championed the works of living composers: commissioning, premiering and recording numerous new works for the solo viola and for string quartet, while appearing in the nation’s leading venues including Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall and the Kennedy Center.[1] As the violist of the Corigliano Quartet, she has received awards such as the Grand Prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the ASCAP/CMA Award for Adventurous Programming.
As a recording artist, Watras has garnered considerable attention and praise from the media. Of her debut solo CD, Viola Solo, Strings remarked, “Watras is a young player in possession of stunning virtuosic talent and deserving of the growing acclaim.” The Strad called her “excellent” and “authoritative,” while the American Record Guide proclaimed, "Watras is a terrific violist." For the CD, Watras adapted John Corigliano’s Fancy on a Bach Air for viola. Her edition of this work is published by G. Schirmer, Inc. Watras’s second solo CD, Prestidigitation, features world premiere recordings of five works written especially for her and was described by Strings as “astounding, and both challenging and addictive to listen to.”
With the Corigliano Quartet, Watras has concertized extensively throughout the United States and abroad, performing to much critical acclaim. Described as “musicians who seem to say ‘Listen to this!’” by the New York Times, the quartet’s 2007 CD release on the Naxos label was named one of the Ten Best Classical CDs of the Year by The New Yorker and prompted Gramophone to proclaim, “the unbridled force and full-metal virtuosity that the Corigliano Quartet unleash on this music is astounding.” The Corigliano Quartet has recorded for Naxos, Albany, Bayer, CRI, Riax, and Aguava and has appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered and Performance Today and WFMT-Chicago’s Live from Studio One.[1]
Watras attended Indiana University, where she studied with Abraham Skernick and Atar Arad, earning Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees and the prestigious Performer’s Certificate. While at Indiana, she served as Arad’s assistant for many years, and was a member of the faculty as a Visiting Lecturer. She went on to study chamber music at the Juilliard School, while also teaching as an assistant to the Juilliard String Quartet. Watras is currently Associate Professor of Viola at the University of Washington School of Music, where she serves as chair of the Strings Division and is a Donald E. Petersen Endowed Fellow.