Alex Mitchell
Principal Viola
Alex is Principal Viola with Manchester Camerata and Joint Assistant Principal Viola at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. He was awarded 5th prize at the 2015 Tokyo International Viola Competition and in 2012, 3rd prize at the Beethoven International Competion in Hradek.
Alex began learning the violin with his Dad, Kenneth on his sixth birthday, and two years later started piano lessons with his mum, Elisabeth.
During his seven years of study at the RNCM in Manchester, Alex learned variously with Petr Prause, Nobuko Imai, Garth Knox, Gina McCormack, Wenzhou Li and Asdis Valdimarsdottir. Whilst at the college he won numerous awards such as the ‘Helen Porthouse Paganini Prize’ where he pipped the violinists to the top prize, and the Concerto Competition, the result of which he saw him subsequently performing Martinu’s Viola Concerto with conductor Clark Rundell and the RNCM Symphony Orchestra.
Chamber music has also been a big part of Alex’s life and he was a member of the Zelkova String Quartet until 2019.
Alex’s favourite composer is Mozart and he likes wearing odd socks. In his free time he enjoys walking in the Lake District with his wife Harriet, cooking and watching David Attenborough documentaries.
