Leslie Van Becker
PRINCIPAL VIOLA
Leslie Van Becker has been Principal Viola of the Grand Rapids Symphony since 1978. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music degree from the Yale University School of Music. As a chamber musician, Ms. Van Becker has appeared with the DeVos String Quartet, New World String Quartet, Trio Nouveau, Ghandarva Piano Quartet, Clifford Music Group, Castalia Quartet and also on the Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck. As a soloist with the Grand Rapids Symphony, she has appeared on its Casual Classics Series in 1987, 1989, 1995 and 2005 and on its Classical Series featured in Don Quixote in 1998 and 2011. She participates each year as Principal Viola of the Cabrillo Music Festival in Santa Cruz, California -- whose mission is to perform orchestral and chamber music exclusively from the 20th century and beyond. As an educator, Ms. Van Becker serves on the faculty of Calvin College and also maintains an active studio in her home. She and her husband, Ed Clifford, have two grown children, Matthew and Genevieve, who live in Brooklyn, New York. Ms. Van Becker and her husband now share their 100-year-old home in Heritage Hill with their cat, Scraps.
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