Biography

Joan DerHovsepian serves as Principal Viola of the Houston Symphony. She first joined as section viola hired by Christoph Eschenbach, moved to Associate Principal for thirteen seasons, and was named Principal Viola with current Music Director Juraj Valčuha in 2023. She has appeared as guest principal viola with the Chicago and Cincinnati symphonies and was formerly Principal Viola of the Charleston Symphony. Recent solo performances with the Houston Symphony include Mozart Sinfonia Concertante with Concertmaster Yoonshin Song, Bruch Double Concerto with former Principal 2nd Violin MuChen Hsieh and Strauss Don Quixote with Principal Cello Brinton Smith.

In fall 2025 DerHovsepian began as violist of the Axelrod String Quartet, the quartet-in-residence at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., playing on the museum’s collection of Nicolò Amati and Stradivari instruments. Other recent festival and chamber music performances include the Seattle Chamber Music Society, Mainly Mozart Orchestra, Grand Teton Music Festival, Mimir Chamber Music Festival (Ft. Worth TX and Melbourne Australia), Music in Context, Peninsula Music Festival, New Canaan Chamber Music, Fabbri Chamber Concerts and Musica Tra Amici.

She has passionately taught the viola orchestral repertoire course at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music for over 20 years, coaching students to win positions in major orchestras across the US and around the world. DerHovsepian is regular guest faculty for the New World Symphony and National Orchestral Institute. She was featured as Artist-in-Residence for the American Viola Society in 2023.

DerHovsepian was the violist of the award winning Everest Quartet, top prize winners at the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and she was the second place recipient of the Primrose International Viola Competition. She is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and pursued graduate study at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg Germany. Her teachers have included James Dunham and Kim Kashkashian. She has studied chamber music with Michael Tree, Eugene Lehner, Joseph Silverstein, Felix Galimir and members of the Cleveland, Emerson and Juilliard Quartets.