Bernard Zaslav
American viola player Bernard Zaslav was born in New York on 7 April 1926 and studied violin with Sascha Jacobsen and Mischa Mischakoff at Juilliard, and then with Lillian Fuchs at the Yale Summer School.
He played viola in the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell, and played in various string quartets, and formed the Zaslav Duo with his pianist wife Naomi Zaslav. He was instrumental in commissioning new works, giving first performances and making first recordings.
He played on the 'ex-Villa' Guadagnini of 1781. In addition to performing, he also taught and wrote the memoir The Viola in My Lfe: An Alto Rhapsody.
He died on 28 December 2016, aged ninety.