Dustin Budish

A native of Reno, Nevada, Dustin Budish began his musical training at the age of eight studying the piano, but soon after a suggestion by his middle school strings teacher, he realized his true passion was for the viola.

Budish studied at Oberlin College and the Cleveland Institute of Music with Jeffrey Irvine where he received his BM in viola performance and then received his MM with honors at the New England Conservatory with Martha Katz. While in college, he worked with and performed alongside members of the Cavani, Tokyo, Vermeer and Cleveland Quartets and received the Russell Award at the Coleman Chamber Music Competition in 2001. As a chamber musician, he has performed at the Ravinia, Norfolk, Cactus Pear festivals and most recently at the Nevada Chamber Music Festival. As a member of the Verbier Festival, Budish traveled across the globe for performances in Europe, Asia, India and was invited to Israel to perform with Maxim Vengerov’s Mozart Project with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra.

As a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, FL he performed in Carnegie Hall with Yo Yo Ma and later was featured as soloist with the orchestra as a winner of the annual concerto competition under Maestro Alasdair Neale’s direction. Also, while in Miami, he served as artistic director for the “Friends” of New World, where he catered custom innovative fusions of classical music with hip-hop, electronic, reggae and funk for private events.

Presently, Budish is principal viola of the Reno Philharmonic and the Reno Chamber Orchestra. In 2015, he was a featured soloist with the Reno Philharmonic where he performed the Walton Viola Concerto. He has also frequently substituted with the San Francisco Symphony and was a participant of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony (before it was renamed) for almost 10 years.

Budish has a passion for nurturing the next generations of young musicians and teaches many young violinists and violists privately in the Reno area, many of which have received numerous awards and honors. He is also the conductor for the Reno Youth Concert Orchestra and has regularly programmed fun repertoire from Bach to The Legend of Zelda video game music.