Melia Watras has been hailed by Gramophone as “an artist of commanding and poetic personality” and by The Strad as “staggeringly virtuosic.” As a violist, composer and collaborative artist, she has sustained a distinguished career as a creator and facilitator of new music and art. 

Watras’s much-lauded work as a recording artist spans nearly three decades, with 10 solo albums and 13 others as violist of the acclaimed Corigliano Quartet. Her recordings have been described as “an exquisite world in which beauty and dreams flirt with sorrow” (The WholeNote), “a rare balance of emotional strength and technical delicacy” (The American Record Guide), “a beautiful celebration of 21^st century viola music” (The Strad), and “astounding and both challenging and addictive to listen to” (Strings).

Her compositions have been performed throughout the US and in Europe, broadcast on National Public Radio’s Performance Today, and can be found on the albums The almond tree duos, Kinetic, Partita Party, Play/Write; String Masks; 3 Songs for Bellows, Buttons and Keys; Firefly Songs; Schumann Resonances and 26. 

Watras is currently Professor of Viola and Chair of Strings at the University of Washington School of Music, where she holds the Ruth Sutton Waters Endowed Professorship. In 2024, the American Viola Society commissioned a new composition by Watras and presented her with the prestigious Maurice W. Riley Award, for her distinguished contributions to the viola as a performer, composer, teacher and leader.