Canadian violist Sharon Wei is a dynamic and varied musician, establishing herself as one of the most respected violists on the scene today. She has appeared as soloist, chamber musician, and guest principal violist throughout North America and Europe. She has collaborated with conductors such as James Levine, Kent Nagano, Paavo Järvi, Zubin Mehta, Jean Christophe Spinosi and Yuri Termirkanov. She has been guest principal violist of the Cincinnati Symphony, Canadian Opera Company and Ensemble Matheus in Paris. Sharon has played chamber music with Lynn Harrell, Gary Hoffman, Claude Frank, Peter Frankl, Joseph Silverstein, Jonathan Crow, Mark Fewer, Joel Quarrington, James Campbell, James Sommerville, the Amernet Quartet and the St. Lawrence String Quartet.
Sharon co-founded Ensemble Made in Canada which won a CBC rising stars award and was featured in Chatelaine Magazine as “one of 80 women to watch”. EMIC is currently Ensemble-in-Residence at Western University and performs and teaches regularly throughout Canada. Sharon has been the recipient of grants through the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council. She has toured under the auspices of Debut Atlantic and Prairie Debut and won the viola prize at Yale University.
Sharon has given masterclasses throughout China, the US, and Canada. She was on the faculty at Yale University and Stanford University and is currently Assistant Professor of Viola at Western University. Sharon has created a course for performance majors in which students learn important off-stage initiatives such as networking, concert production, grant writing, website design, and managing finances.