Praised as “exceptionally talented” and “a virtuosic performer,” Block is a first-year Viola Fellow at the New World Symphony and has performed as a soloist with several Chicago-area symphonies, as well as performing as an orchestral musician and award-winning chamber musician. She gave the U.S. premier of Alejandro Cardona’s Sweet Tijuana: Danzas Fronterizas for Viola and Orchestra with the New Juilliard Ensemble. A Barrington native, Block performs works by Beethoven and Zimbalis alongside Chicago native and Juilliard pianist Natalie Nedvetsky.

Ms. Block was recently selected to participate in the inaugural Keston MAX London Symphony Orchestra Fellowship through the Music Academy of the West and performed with the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. Block has worked with several renowned chamber musicians and has worked under many acclaimed conductors. She is an accomplished and passionate chamber musician, receiving numerous awards, and had held several principal roles as an orchestral musician, including traveling to Helsinki and Stockholm as a member of the joint symphony of the Juilliard and Sibelius Academy orchestras under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen.

She is a faculty artist at the University of Northern Carolina at Chapel Hill Chamber Music Workshop. Born in Barrington, she received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School.

Natalie Vargas Nedvetsky, Piano

Natalie Vargas Nedvetsky, 21, is originally from Chicago, IL and has performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe, in halls such as Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall, Harris Theatre, Concert Noble Brussels, and more. She is an award-winning solo and chamber performing artist. Natalie is currently in her third year at The Juilliard School.