BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Zachary Hamilton is a violist, music educator, and recording artist based in Los Angeles.
In 2025 he joined the Modesto Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Principal Viola, and has been a member of New West Symphony in Thousand Oaks, California since 2023. Zachary also plays regularly with Los Angeles Master Chorale, Santa Barbara Symphony, and other ensembles in Los Angeles.
In addition to playing with great orchestras in venues like Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Dolby Theater, he is especially passionate about performing chamber and new music. He also plays baroque viola, and has performed with Bach Collegium LA and as principal viola with Los Angeles Baroque.
Zachary's performance experience includes his passion for extra-classical styles of music like pop, hip hop, and folk music. From 2023-2026 he was the fiddle player for the Santa Barbara-based Celtic band The Waymarkers, and from 2022-2025 he was principal viola of the Folk Orchestra of Santa Barbara. His 2022 debut EP, You're My Favorite, features music from a wide array of traditions.
Zachary is a dedicated music educator. He is currently on the faculty of California Lutheran University, and was previously on the faculty of Westmont College. In addition to college teaching, Zachary is a devoted private violin and viola instructor. More information about his teaching can be found here.
Zachary holds a Bachelor of Violin Performance (B.M.) from the University of Puget Sound, where he studied with Maria Sampen and Tim Christie. After college he studied violin with Barbara Górzynska and jazz violin with Konstantin Weitz in Vienna, Austria. While studying in Vienna, he was concertmaster and later principal viola of the Akademisches Symphonie Orchester, with whom he also performed Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante as solo violinist. Zachary completed a Master of Viola Performance (M.M.) at the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague (Koninklijk Conservatorium) in the Netherlands. There he specialized in new music and studied with Ásdís Valdimarsdóttir, alongside playing baroque viola in various projects and festivals. He completed a Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) at UC Santa Barbara, where he studied with Jonathan Moerschel.
Zachary plays a 17.4-inch viola made by the Dutchman Peter Pots in 1988 (dubbed the celloviola by his former teacher!), and uses a Gerhard Penzel viola bow. He plays an unlabeled violin made in early 19th-century Paris, and his bow was made by G.A. Pfretzschner.
For more information or to request a curriculum vitae, please inquire at [email protected].
In 2025 he joined the Modesto Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Principal Viola, and has been a member of New West Symphony in Thousand Oaks, California since 2023. Zachary also plays regularly with Los Angeles Master Chorale, Santa Barbara Symphony, and other ensembles in Los Angeles.
In addition to playing with great orchestras in venues like Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Dolby Theater, he is especially passionate about performing chamber and new music. He also plays baroque viola, and has performed with Bach Collegium LA and as principal viola with Los Angeles Baroque.
Zachary's performance experience includes his passion for extra-classical styles of music like pop, hip hop, and folk music. From 2023-2026 he was the fiddle player for the Santa Barbara-based Celtic band The Waymarkers, and from 2022-2025 he was principal viola of the Folk Orchestra of Santa Barbara. His 2022 debut EP, You're My Favorite, features music from a wide array of traditions.
Zachary is a dedicated music educator. He is currently on the faculty of California Lutheran University, and was previously on the faculty of Westmont College. In addition to college teaching, Zachary is a devoted private violin and viola instructor. More information about his teaching can be found here.
Zachary holds a Bachelor of Violin Performance (B.M.) from the University of Puget Sound, where he studied with Maria Sampen and Tim Christie. After college he studied violin with Barbara Górzynska and jazz violin with Konstantin Weitz in Vienna, Austria. While studying in Vienna, he was concertmaster and later principal viola of the Akademisches Symphonie Orchester, with whom he also performed Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante as solo violinist. Zachary completed a Master of Viola Performance (M.M.) at the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague (Koninklijk Conservatorium) in the Netherlands. There he specialized in new music and studied with Ásdís Valdimarsdóttir, alongside playing baroque viola in various projects and festivals. He completed a Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) at UC Santa Barbara, where he studied with Jonathan Moerschel.
Zachary plays a 17.4-inch viola made by the Dutchman Peter Pots in 1988 (dubbed the celloviola by his former teacher!), and uses a Gerhard Penzel viola bow. He plays an unlabeled violin made in early 19th-century Paris, and his bow was made by G.A. Pfretzschner.
For more information or to request a curriculum vitae, please inquire at [email protected].