String Project Instructor, Viola
Justin Lader is a graduate student pursuing the PhD program in Music in Human Learning at UT Austin. Mr. Lader holds a Master’s Degree in Viola Performance from the University of Oregon and received his Bachelor’s of Music from the Oberlin Conservatory. His principal teachers have been Leslie Straka, Peter Slowik, Karen Ritscher, and Roger Chase. Besides expertise in classical music, he is a specialist in Middle-Eastern improvisation, Celtic fiddle, and electronic music.
Mr. Lader began teaching private lessons in 2008 while completing his studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He served as orchestra department coordinator and faculty instructor at the John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts – Community Music School from 2009-2017, teaching both violin and viola. From 2010-2016 Mr. Lader served as an Adjunct Instructor teaching private lessons, coaching chamber music and group classes at the University of Oregon’s Community Music Institute and Suzuki Strings Program. From 2013-2014 Mr. Lader taught world music at the The Village School, a Public Charter School inspired by Waldorf Education, in Eugene, Oregon. From 2014 to 2019 he conducted the strings program at the Eugene Waldorf School. In 2015 he created, directed, and taught at The Shedd Institutes Chamber Strings camp. The summer of 2016 he taught and directed The Shedd’s Chamber Music Camp, in addition to the Beginning Strings Camp. Also in the summer of 2016, he was also a guest instructor at the Off The Hook Arts Summer Music Workshop in Fort Collins, Colorado.
As a freelance artist Mr. Lader regularly performs throughout the West Coast with renowned Celtic Harper, David Helfand. The duo performs original and traditional music that is influenced by Middle Eastern, Celtic, and Indian styles. Together with David Helfand, the duo has released three albums, “Through the Portal,” “From a Distant Time: Inspirations from the Celtic Lands,’ and “After the Rain.”
Other collaborative projects include recording and performing with Jake McNeillie and Company, This Patch of Sky, We Have A Ghost, and Albert Howell. Additionally, Mr. Lader performs outreach work with CardioStart International, offering live concerts to support the organization’s mission in providing free heart surgeries in developing countries.