The landmark 50th International Viola Congress took place in Paris (yes, France) from January 19th – 23rd, 2026. A day-by-day post-congress blog is delivered to you by Kristofer Skaug.

Day 1: Monday, January 19th, 2026
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It is no exaggeration to say that the viola world had been looking forward to this special 50th International Viola Congress in Paris. A spectacular lineup of featured artists and a programme counting some 200 events awaited us, and violists from all around the planet eagerly booked travel and tickets to enjoy every millisecond of it. I went there with my wife and daughter, along with many other Dutch viola friends.  Already at 8am on the first day, a long line of congress participants formed outside the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique (CNSAD for short). This was only one of some 7 different locations throughout the city where congress events would take place, but it was the main venue for the first couple of days.

The host team of the Société Française de l’Alto seemed somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer number of participants and events that had to be handled. The internal logistics on the site were challenging, for example connecting two adjacent facilities (the main Theatre and the smaller recital halls) in creative ways, including (to my amusement) main crowd passages through the bathrooms on two floors.

Unfortunately I had made a wrong bet on the timing of the opening ceremony, so I missed these formalities as my train from Rotterdam arrived too late. But I made it past the registration desk on time to attend the first rehearsal of the Viola orchestra at 10:30. Here Karin Dolman was laying the orchestral groundwork for her musical theatre piece Raiders of the Lost Tone. Some 100 violists attended this first rehearsal, filling the room to the brim. Whew, what a start!

The lunch break was spent admiring the displays of violas in the designated luthérie rooms, and trying to greet as many old friends as possible. But there were so many people, all heading to different sites at all times. That’s the price one has to pay when a viola congress becomes really successful – in fact, in the case of several viola friends, I only learned that they had been present when their jubilant social media posts started appearing after the congress!

After lunch, I found myself a comfy seat in the main CNSAD theatre, an amazing old concert hall (see picture at the top of this post) where Berlioz in his time had premiered Harold en Italie (!). Under the chosen session title “Arabian Tales“, some quite exotic themes awaited us here: First, the MENAT Modern Music Ensemble led by violists Nadine Oussaad and John Stulz brought a programme based on traditional Algerian / Arab music, supported by oud and percussion. I thoroughly enjoyed this unusual combination and the varied style of works.

This was followed by “Two Turkish Violists in Paris“, featuring Beste Tiknaz Modiri and Baris Kerem Bahar with contemporary works – of which many premieres – for 2 violas. It reflected the energetic community that has been built around the Turkish Viola Society, with a significant output of new works for the viola (among other things).

The session was concluded with “The Persian Viola – Viola Music from the Iranian Diaspora“. In collaboration with composer Daniel Reza Sabzghabaei, violists Daphne Gerling and Wendy Richman had put together an eclectic selection from five different exiled Iranian composers. The current violent upheavals in Iran, which were not in the picture when the program was proposed, gave the program an extra poignant feeling.

At this point we needed a break to get checked into our apartment (just around the corner), missing no less than 5 interesting congress events in just one hour. We raced back to catch the two young emerging violists Paul Zientara and Sarah Strohm, for a varied “rotation” recital of Stravinsky, Enescu, Bridge, and Brahms among other things. The quite distinct styles of the two violists brought additional variety to the performance, already so rich in musicality and virtuosity.

After a quick re-heat dinner (leftovers packaged from home) back in the apartment, we once again found ourselves in the CNSAD Theatre for the evening concert with viola superhero Lawrence Power. The hall was packed with people, with long lines of remorseful “late buyers” outside who had to wait for spare seats, if they could get in at all. First I must mention the opening act, in which Odile Auboin premiered Joan Magrané Figuera‘s commissioned piece “Two Meditations for Viola and Harp” (the latter instrument played by Ghislaine Petit-Volta). This was certainly more than just a parenthesis to Power’s concert! Well chosen by the organizing committee.

After the obligatory joke about never having seen so many violists in one place, Power dove straight into the heart of the matter together with his pianist Simon Crawford Philips, making a grand opening statement with York Bowen’s Phantasy in F, op. 54 – one of my favourites from his acclaimed Bowen recordings. This virtuosic piece feels like a roller-coaster, and Power’s performance brought me tears of pure joy. In retrospect one of the absolute highlight moments of the congress!

This was followed by a wonderful selection of pieces by Purcell, Adès, Britten and Turnage. I need to particularly mention the two last pieces: The transcription of Hector Berlioz’ song Death of Ophelia, which was of course a nod to the composer’s strong ties with the hall we were gathered in; and concluding with the popular viola transcription of 8 pieces from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet ballet music.

After his concert, Power was awarded the Silver Alto Clef by IVS President Jutta Puchhammer and president-elect Karin Dolman. So very well deserved!

We took a nightcap at Le Royal Bergère, the official “Viola café” just down the street from CNSAD. They had “happy hour all day” for IVC participants, but in this case that mainly meant the beer was 8 euros instead of 9, so it didn’t get very late.

Disclaimer #1: Any opinion expressed here is the author’s own, not that of the DVS.

Disclaimer #2: Due to the incredibly rich programme at this congress, it was physically impossible to see (and hence report from) more than perhaps 25-30% of all the events. A high level summary (listing also all of the Dutch contributions) is given on this page, and more details can of course be found on the official congress website.

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