Mr. Kurt K. Meisenbach

Viola, Violin Teacher

Kurt Meisenbach

SAA Member

Contact

Plano, TX
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Kurt Meisenbach, violist, graduated from the Manhattan School of Music in New York in 1971 with a full tuition scholarship. During his student years he performed extensively with the late Leopold Stokowski in the American Symphony, Frederic Waldman in the Music Aeterna Orchestra, and the Manhattan String Quartet, of which he was a founding member. He also performed as first chair Viola in the Aspen Chamber Symphony in 1970 under the baton of Jorge Mester and taught at the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division. Kurt’s teachers include Robert Slaughter, Bernard Kadinoff and Lillian Fuchs. His coaches include Burton Fine, Earl Carlyss, Joseph Fuchs and Mauricio Fuks.

In 1971 he accepted the position of principal viola in the Kansas City Philharmonic in Kansas City, Missouri, a position he held for 8 years. In his first season in Kansas City he performed the Strauss Don Quixote solo with renowned cellist, Leonard Rose. In 1972 he accepted the position of Artist in Residence in William Jewell College, Liberty Missouri where he taught and performed until 1981. Concurrent with these musical activities he also pursued an active career as a chamber musician, performing concerts with the Ars Nova Piano Quartet in the United States and Canada. He also coached and performed at the music festivals in Red Fox, Massachusetts and Taos, New Mexico.

In 1981 Kurt completed an accounting degree (Magna Cum Laude), passed the Missouri CPA exam and joined Electronic Systems (EDS) in Dallas Texas as a Management Accountant and Financial Analyst. Over the following 25 years he spent ten years in the US and 15 years in Europe designing Financial Accounting Systems for multinational companies and managing projects in multiple countries, including the US, Canada, Russia, India, Asia and South America. The prestigious companies he worked for include EDS, Dun and Bradstreet, Arthur Andersen, CapGemini, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Accenture, where he was a partner in both firms.

Kurt maintained an active musical life during his business career. In 1982 he and his family were invited to play a series of concerts to open the Shreveport Music Festival. In 2001 he and his wife, a concert pianist were invited by Princess Helena Moutafian and the government of Russia to play a series of concerts in celebration of the 750th anniversary of Kostroma, the second oldest city in Russia.

During this same period Kurt found time to undertake serious study of the guitar, where his teachers included Leigh Oben and Berta Rojas in the US and Carlos Bonel in London. During these studies he learned the importance and practice of relaxation in musical performance, a knowledge which encouraged him to return to the viola and to teaching full time.

In 2008 Kurt and his wife, Carmen moved to Uruguay where they lived for ten years. With the help of The Music School of Maldonado, he launched a Suzuki Program for Violin and Viola that has continued after his return to the States. Kurt is developing a series of supporting training materials for Suzuki parents and students that will be available in late 2018.

Kurt plays an Otto Erdesz 17 inch viola which is a copy of one of the few Gaspar da Salo violas with double purfling. It is made from aged wood that is over 150 years old and is the same viola he played for Leopold Stokowski, Samuel Rhodes, Leonard Rose and his audiences in Russia.

Kurt currently lives with his wife in Plano, Texas. He speaks fluent Spanish and holds passports in the US and in the UK and permanent residence in Uruguay.