Marcel Gemperli

Marcel Gemperli (viola) is Principal Violist of the California Symphony and performs regularly with the San Francisco Symphony. He was an acting member of the San Diego Symphony viola section from 2017 until 2022 and has also performed with the orchestras of the San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Ballet, and numerous regional ensembles in the Bay Area. Marcel enjoys recording film and other scores at Skywalker Sound and has been an active performer in touring Broadway productions and with pop and jazz artists, having shared the stage with Stevie Wonder, Josh Groban, Diana Krall, Madeleine Peyroux, and Harry Connick, Jr., among others.
 
Marcel began playing the viola at the age of eight in the public school system of his native New York State and continued his musical education while earning his B.A. at Harvard University. Marcel performed with the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, Colorado, and subsequently pursued further study of the viola in England, Germany, and Switzerland. He has participated in numerous music festivals including the Mendocino Music Festival, Telluride Chamber Music Festival, Midsummer Mozart Festival, the Eastern Sierra Summer Music Festival, and Festival Napa Valley.