Melissa Hamilton, Viola

Melissa Hamilton is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where she received bachelor's and master's degrees in Viola Performance as a student of Atar Arad and James Dunham. While at Eastman, she was violist of the Augustine Quartet, co-winner of the 1987 Cleveland Quartet Competition. During her tenure as violist of the Augustine Quartet, the quartet performed at the Aspen and Norfolk summer festivals and competed in national and international competitions. Before returning to Tucson in 1997, Mrs. Hamilton was instructor of viola at Western Washington University and violist of the Pacific String Quartet at Western. She currently performs with the Tucson Symphony and the Tucson Chamber Artists. Future goals include studying the history of the Holocaust and using her musical abilities to promote the work of the International Justice Mission (IJM), a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. Melissa's favorite "words to live by" come from the Gospel of John: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5).