Royal Conservatoire of Scotland awards honorary doctorate to violist Garth Knox

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland has awarded an honorary doctorate to Garth Knox. The violist received his award at the Conservatoire’s graduation ceremony on 6 July. The honorary degree, awarded by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's Academic Board, recognises Knox’s ‘truly outstanding contribution to their profession’.

In addition to a widely varied and long-standing career, Knox has recently turned his attention to promoting the viola d’amore, exploring its possibilities in new music and is currently working towards creating a new repertoire for this instrument.

Addressing 300 graduating students, Knox said: ‘Standard advice is usually saying a mixture of talent, ambition, hard work and good luck, but I will talk about something that has guided me: listening. This is not just for musicians, we all can learn how to listen better – listening to what people say, with a view to understanding what they mean. Listening to what is going on around you, to understand it. And listening to yourself to recognise what is genuine and what is your place in the world.’

Born in Ireland, Knox spent his childhood in Scotland and studied at the Royal College of Music where he won several prizes. In 1983 Knox was invited by Pierre Boulez to become a member of the Ensemble InterContemporain in Paris, and in 1990, he joined the Arditti String Quartet, performing with them worldwide before leaving the group in 1998 to focus on his solo career.

Knox also created Viola Spaces, a series of concert studies for young string players. Now based in Paris, Knox is also an active composer, and has received commissions from the Kronos Quartet, Radio France, British Film Institute and the Festival D'Automne. He is also visiting professor of viola at the Royal Academy of Music in London.