Michael Whitson is an active performing violist, educator and the founder and executive director of the Pacific Crest Music Festival (PCMF), an organization dedicated to providing high-level classical music education and performance opportunities for emerging musicians. Since founding PCMF in 2013, he has helped develop the festival into an intensive chamber music program that brings together accomplished faculty and talented young musicians from leading conservatories and universities across the country.

As a violist, Whitson has enjoyed a diverse professional career spanning orchestral, chamber, studio and commercial music. He formerly performed with Los Angeles Opera and Pacific Symphony and has shared the stage with artists including Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Barbra Streisand, Stevie Wonder, and many others. His studio work includes major motion-picture scores such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Despicable Me. He continues to perform actively as a violist in a variety of professional settings.

Education has remained central to Whitson’s career. In addition to teaching viola at Cal Poly, he previously served as a teaching artist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and has maintained an active private teaching studio. His approach to teaching draws heavily from his professional performing experience, with an emphasis on developing strong fundamentals, musical independence, confidence, and the skills students need to succeed as collaborative musicians.

Whitson began his musical studies with his parents, both active performers and teachers. He received a full scholarship to attend the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Paul Hersh, and completed his graduate studies at the University of Oklahoma, where he was a member of the university’s graduate string quartet.

Through his work at Cal Poly, his private teaching, his ongoing performing career, and his leadership of Pacific Crest Music Festival, Whitson is committed to helping young musicians develop not only as violists, but as thoughtful, versatile and engaged musicians.