Originally from Michigan, Kurt Tseng joined the North Carolina Symphony in 2020 as Associate Principal Viola. During the summers, Tseng is also a section member of the Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra. Before moving to the Raleigh-Durham area, he was a member of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.
Tseng has participated in many music festivals, including the Tanglewood Music Center, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and the Pacific Music Festival. As an avid chamber musician, Tseng has played music in many chambers. His most recent appearance includes a performance in Miami with Sodam and the All-Stars, of which he is a founding member. He also spent two years in Miami Beach as a fellow with the New World Symphony.
Tseng began his musical studies at age 5 on the piano and was a student of the Piano Pedagogy Laboratory Program at the University of Michigan, where he worked with Kelley Benson. He later pursued viola under the instruction of Patricia Pats Gurin. Tseng completed his undergraduate studies in the Boston area as part of the dual degree program between Tufts University and New England Conservatory. There he studied with Martha Katz and received a Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology with a minor in Mathematics. He subsequently earned his master’s degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he studied with Edward Gazouleas, and served as an Associate Instructor in music theory.
When not playing the viola, Tseng enjoys attempting to cook, bake, make drinks, and spending time with his husband Kevin Fitzgerald and their two dogs, Chipper and Bennie, who can be a real handful.