American-Iranian Violist Muriel Razavi (*1992 in Freiburg) is in great demand as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral musician in the baroque as well as in the contemporary music field.
Since 2023, she is a Professor for Viola at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Trossingen, in Germany, and at the University Mozarteum Salzburg, in Austria.
Muriel studied with renowned teachers such as Prof. Tabea Zimmermann, Prof. Nils Mönkemeyer, and Prof. Tatjana Masurenko. In 2019, she completed her Master’s degree with honors under Prof. Wilfried Strehle at the Universität der Künste Berlin.
As a baroque violist, she expanded her expertise in historical performance practice with ensembles such as the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble (Thomas Hengelbrock), Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (London), Il Pomo d’Oro, and Le Concert Olympique (Belgium).
Muriel is a first prize winner of the Washington String Competition (Washington D.C., 2018) and has received awards at the international competitions Michael Spisak (Katowice, 2017) and Città di Cremona during the 43rd International Viola Conference (Cremona, 2016). She has appeared at prestigious festivals including the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland, Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, Rheingau Music Festival, Stavelot Festival (Belgium), Yeosu Festival (South Korea), and Musicales de Frutillar (Chile), where she also gave masterclasses.
As a principal viola, Muriel has performed internationally with the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the MDR Symphony Orchestra, and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim. She also works as a substitute with Germany’s most prominent symphony orchestras. Her chamber music partners include Baiba Skride, Kian Soltani, Tobias Feldmann, Harriet Krijgh, and Frank Braley. She is a member of Mutter’s Virtuosi, led by violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter.
Since 2021, she has been serving as an honorary mentor in the Mentoring Arts Program at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig, guiding students toward careers in music.
She is currently enrolled in a doctoral program (Dr.sc.mus) at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre under the artistic supervision of Daniel Barenboim, where she is conducting research on Re-Orientalism in Music.
In recent years, Muriel has developed innovative concert formats showcasing contemporary classical music by Iranian composers, particularly works from the Iranian Female Composers Association.
Muriel performs on a modern French viola crafted for her by luthier Patrick Robin, and on an Alemannic baroque viola made by Dorothea van der Woerd.
In addition to her musical career, Muriel holds a Bachelor’s degree in "The History and Culture of the Middle East – Iranian Studies from the Freie Universität Berlin", and a Master’s degree in "Religion and Culture" from the Humboldt University of Berlin.
