Faculty

Donald McInnes is a professor emeritus of strings at the USC Thornton School of Music. 

Violist Donald McInnes has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony and l’Orchestre National de France among others, and for many years, he was a resident member of Camerata Pacifica. His career includes associations with many of the world’s major artists, including Leonard Bernstein, Yehudi Menuhin, Lynn Harrell and Yo-Yo Ma.

An active recording artist, McInnes can be heard on the Columbia, RCA, Deutsche Grammophon, Angel/EMI and Laurel labels. He has introduced many new works for viola, including those commissioned for him by William Schuman, Vincent Persichetti, William Bergsma, Robert Suderberg, Paul Tufts and Thomas Pasatieri.

A frequent guest artist and teacher at leading music schools including the University of Michigan, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the University of Washington, McInnes was named the 2004 American String Teachers Association Teacher of the Year. He has been associated with the Banff Centre in Canada, the Menuhin schools in both England and Switzerland and the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies in England, as well as festivals at Interlochen, St. Barts, Marlboro and Sunflower and the International String Workshop. McInnes was a guest professor at the Royal Conservatory in Barcelona, the Shanghai Conservatory and the Central Conservatory in Beijing.

USC honored McInnes with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and the International Viola Society presented him with the Silver Alto Clef, its highest honor, at the 2007 International Viola Congress in Adelaide, Australia.

He recently retired from professional performance, but he continues to teach and give masterclasses.