Irish violist Martin Moriarty is recognised as one of Ireland’s foremost musicians of his generation, pursuing a vibrant career as a soloist and chamber musician across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. A prizewinner at the Amsterdam Viola Festival Competition, the Flax Trust Award (Clandeboye Chamber Music Festival), and the Peter Pirazzi Stiftung, he has appeared with orchestras including the Baden-Baden Philharmonic (under Pavel Baleff) and Amsterdam Sinfonietta. In 2022 he gave the Czech premiere of James MacMillan’s Viola Concerto with the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marc Kissoczy.
Martin has performed in many of the world’s foremost concert halls, among them the National Concert Hall Dublin, Het Concertgebouw and Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ (Amsterdam), Tonhalle Zürich, Casino Bern, the Franz Liszt Academy of Music (Budapest), BOZAR Concert Hall and the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel (Brussels), St Martin-in-the-Fields and Kings Place (London), Ishibashi Memorial Hall (Tokyo), and Abu Dhabi National Theatre.
He is a frequent guest at international festivals including IMS Prussia Cove, Krzyżowa Music, West Cork, GAIA, Britten Pears Arts, Zürcher Kammermusik Gesellschaft, Eggenfelden Klassisch, Davos, Schiermonnikoog, Grachtenfestival, Tsinandali, Pablo Casals, Virtuoso & Belcanto, Holland Music Sessions, NEO Festival (Novi Sad), Tonhain Kollektiv Berlin and Romsey Chamber Music Festival. His collaborations span distinguished artists such as Vadim Gluzman, Claudio Martínez Mehner, Viviane Hagner, Eckart Runge, Stephen Waarts, Alexey Stadler, Gareth Lubbe, Boris Garlitsky, Philip Setzer, Barry Douglas, Márcio Carneiro, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Maxim Rysanov, István Várdai, Finghin Collins, Miklós Lukács, Diamanda Dramm, the Paddington Trio and the Vogler, Vanbrugh, Meta4 and Michelangelo Quartets.
Equally active as an orchestral musician, Martin has performed regularly with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, and Irish Chamber Orchestra, and has served as guest principal viola with ensembles including CHAARTS Chamber Artists, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Belgian National Orchestra and Camerata Freden. A passionate advocate of contemporary music, he has premiered and collaborated on works by Brett Dean, Gabriel Prokofiev, Helena Winkelman, Sam Perkin, Seán Doherty, Raymond Deane, John Kinsella, Oene van Geel, Sebastian Fagerlund, and Thomas Beijer, and will feature on the recording Wind Songs, with new works by Garth Knox recorded with the composer, releasing in autumn 2026.
Martin is also an experienced teacher, having given masterclasses at Bard College (New York), the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp, the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Liechtenstein Musikakademie, ConCorda Chamber Music Course, and Ortús Chamber Music Festival (Cork). Since 2022 he has been invited annually by the National Concert Hall Dublin to assist in its International Master Course, working alongside Gwendolyn Masin, Mihaela Martin, Lars Anders Tomter, Frans Helmerson, Mark Gothoni, Máté Szücs, Adrian Brendel, Silke Avenhaus, Hyeyoon Park, Hartmut Rohde, Ulrich Witteler, Hisako Kawamura, Lena Neudauer, Tomoko Akasaka, Guy Johnston, and Oliver Schnyder; in 2025 he served as acting artistic director.
Martin was the first Irish musician to be selected for the Verbier Festival Academy as a soloist (2018 and 2019), working with Tabea Zimmermann, Antoine Tamestit, Ferenc Rados, Gábor Takács-Nagy, András Keller, and Pamela Frank. From 2021–2024 he was also the first Irish musician to be a Stipendiat of the Villa Musica Foundation in Germany. He began his studies at the Young European Strings School of Music and the Royal Irish Academy of Music (Dublin), later studying in Amsterdam, Detmold, and Zürich with Nobuko Imai, Marjolein Dispa, Veit Hertenstein, and Lawrence Power.
