Steven Laraia has been a violist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra since the fall of 2019 after serving as principal viola of the Sarasota Orchestra for from 2015 to 2019. He has performed at music festivals including the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Yellow Barn Music Festival, and Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival. Laraia has toured the U.S., Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, the Czech Republic and Cuba with groups such as Sejong Soloists, A Far Cry, Sphinx Virtuosi & the BSO. Mr. Laraia has garnered top prizes at many competitions including the 2014 Hellam Competition, 2012 NEC Concerto Competition, 2012 MUSICCAS International Young Artists Competition, and Sphinx Competition, and he received the 2014 Borromeo Guest Artist Award. He holds bachelor and master of music degrees from the New England Conservatory, where he received the Abraham Skernick Memorial Presidential Scholarship. Mr. Laraia’s principal mentors include: Kim Kashkashian, Dimitri Murrath, Cathy Basrak, Byrnina Socolofsky, and Che-Hung Chen. Currently he is on faculty at the New England Conservatory of Music Prep School.