Castalian String Quartet Appoints New Violist

26-year-old American violist Natalie Loughran will succeed Ruth Gibson

The UK's Castalian String Quartet recently announced that they have appointed violist Natalie Loughran to the group. She replaces outgoing violist Ruth Gibson and will make her first appearance with the quartet on May 13 at Wigmore Hall.

Hailing originally from Philadelphia, Loughran was awarded the First Prize at the 2021 Primrose International Viola Competition, along with the Audience Award — as well as the BIPOC Composer Prize for her arrangement and performance of William Grant Still’s Mother and Child.

As a chamber musician, she has appeared at Marlboro, Yellow Barn, The Perlman Music Program Chamber Workshop, and Kronberg’s Chamber Music Connects the World. In addition, she has collaborated with musicians including Mitsuko Uchida, Stephen Hough, Itzhak Perlman, Dénes Várjon, Gidon Kremer, Christian Tetzlaff, Tabea Zimmermann, and Nobuko Imai.

Loughran studied with Roger Tapping and Misha Amory at The Juilliard School and has also continued her education at the Kronberg Academy with Tabea Zimmermann.

The Castalian Quartet is presently the Hans Keller String Quartet in Residence at the University of Oxford and was named Young Artist of the Year at the 2019 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards. They have appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Konzerthaus, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Paris Philharmonie, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam

"I could have only dreamed of a musical and personal match like this," Loughran said. "I feel honored to add my voice to the Castalians and look forward to many more musical adventures together."

"It has been an incredible time with the Castalian String Quartet and I couldn’t be more grateful for the music making and time traveling the world sharing the extraordinary music with them all," said outgoing violist Ruth Gibson.