Robin Ireland was born in 1954, son of viola player Patrick Ireland and pianist Peggy Gray. He was a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral Choir School and studied at Cambridge University and at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He had a short spell as leader of the Las Palmas Symphony Orchestra and subsequently became a founder member of the Piano Quartet, Domus, which toured with its own portable concert hall (a geodesic dome) as well as having great success in more conventional venues.

Robin is well known as the violist of the Lindsay String Quartet, with whom he played for twenty years. The Lindsays were celebrated throughout the world for their intense and moving performances, and they made over fifty CDs for ASV, covering virtually all the major string quartet repertoire. Robin now plays with the Primrose Piano Quartet and the Anton Stadler piano/clarinet/viola trio, and has a Duo with the pianist Tim Horton, with whom he has recorded a CD of Russian music including the Shostakovich Viola Sonata, released on the Nimbus label (CD available from Robin). As a soloist, he has broadcast on BBC Radio 3, performed Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with the Liverpool Philharmonic and the London Mozart Players, and has in his repertoire all the major works for viola. He specialises in recitals of unaccompanied Bach, transcribed for viola from the violin and cello works. His CD of Bach, which includes the Chaconne, is available on Quartz. His orchestral experience includes working as guest principal viola with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera North. 

Robin is Senior Viola Tutor at the Birmingham Conservatoire and also teaches at the University of Sheffield, and on courses run by ESTA, Pro Corda and Cadenza. He is a committed and enthusiastic teacher, working with pupils ranging from gifted conservatoire students to keen amateurs. He has a rapidly growing reputation for helping students with problems of posture and pain when playing. He is a keen student of the Alexander Technique and of Chi Kung, both of which influence his teaching.

Robin has wide experience of chamber music coaching and giving masterclasses. He leads composition and improvisation workshops, has initiated an ongoing series of viola workshops to promote the viola and to improve the standard of viola playing, and tutors string orchestra workshops.

In 2005, Robin was commissioned by the University of Sheffield to write a string quartet for its centenary celebrations. This work, played by the Lindsays, features on a CD alongside Pairings (his three duos, for viola and cello, two violas, and violin and viola) released on the Meridian label. In the same year, he received funding from the Arts Council to collaborate with the poet Elizabeth Barrett and composed fifteen tone poems for solo viola which interleave with poems from her collection The Bat Detector (CD available from Robin). 

Robin plays on an Amati viola made in the early 1600s. He lives in Sheffield.

For more details of Robin's teaching and other information see www.robinireland.co.uk

Robin can be contacted on 07980 275368

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