The department is proud to welcome Dr. Simon Ertz to the faculty as Lecturer of Viola. Dr. Ertz is principal viola of the Winston Salem Symphony and plays as a regular substitute in both the Charlotte and North Carolina Symphonies. He also regularly performs as principal viola with both the North Carolina Chamber Orchestra and North Carolina Opera, and has appeared as soloist with the Winston Salem Symphony and regularly performs on the Greensboro Symphony Chamber Music Series. After graduating from the Royal Northern College of Music Simon worked with orchestras across the UK including the BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Northern Chamber Orchestra. Get to know more about Dr. Ertz from his short interview below!
What is your position on faculty and what courses are you teaching this year?
Lecturer of Viola, teaching viola lessons.
What is your favorite part of teaching?
As cliched as it might sound, getting to know my students, they all come from such different places and to the viola for different reasons.
What is your favorite part of research?
Learning and hearing new music, oh, and great old music too!
What is the project that you’re most excited about currently?
Starting to work at UNC!
What are some of your non-musical hobbies?
I love to spend time outside, I love to run, and have signed up for my first marathon next month which I feel terribly unprepared for. My new ‘pandemic hobby’ (along with so many others) is baking sourdough bread, I love everything about the process, from the fermentation to the eating!
If your students could learn one thing from you, what do you hope it will be?
To enjoy the process of learning as much as possible.
What music are you currently listening to?
Often old favorites, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and recent discoveries like Gabriella Smith and Jesse Montgomery
Anything else you’d like students to know about you or your teaching?
Just that I am looking forward to getting to know them and learn from them as much as I am hoping to be able to teach them something!