Biography
Violist Tonya Burton enjoys a diverse career of solo and ensemble playing. She recently won third place in the 2023 American Prize for Instrumental Soloists, “Best Classical Artist” in the D.C. Wammie awards, and a track from her debut solo album won a 2022 Wammie award for “Best Classical Song.” She is an official member of the Recording Academy.
An artistic leader, Burton has been a core member of the Kinetic Ensemble since 2016, both performing and curating for the Houston-based string orchestra known for its diverse and innovative programming. Kinetic’s self-titeld album recently debuted as number one on the Billboard Traditional Classical Albums chart in 2023. The ensemble has also been featured on Daniel Knaggs: Two Streams on the Cappella Records label and Pierre Jalbert: String Theory under the Orchid Classics label.
Burton performs and curates for Monarch Chamber Players, a group dedicated to making high-quality chamber music accessible through free concerts across Texas. She is an Affiliate Artist both with the Apollo Chamber Players, notably performing with them at Carnegie Hall in 2023, as well as Caroga Arts Collective in the Adirondacks of New York. Additionally, Burton frequently performs with chamber groups around the United States, including Musiqa, Aperio, Candlelight Concerts, and the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra. Burton’s rich career as a chamber musician has led to collaborations with esteemed artists, including Donald Weilerstein, Jeffrey Irvine, Mark Kosower, Ditta Rohmann, Vijay Gupta, Ben Kammins, Daryl Robinson, Katherine Murdock, Richie Hawley, Fabio Di Càsola, Natsuki Fukasawa, Wen Qian, Ming Hsin, Juan Pechuan Ramirez, David Ehrlich, Dimitri Ashkenazy, Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir, and Arsen Petrosyan (duduk), Hector del Curto (bandoneon).
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As an orchestral musician, Burton has subbed with Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, City Music Cleveland, Akron Symphony, Canton Symphony, Firelands Symphony, and Erie Philharmonic. In past summers she has served as Assistant Principal for Portland Festival Symphony, and section members of Sun River Symphony Festival Orchestra and Newport Symphony Orchestra. Her orchestral playing has taken her abroad to China, playing with the Zhengzhou Yellow River Symphony Orchestra.
Passionate about community-based projects, Burton was awarded the illustrious Houston Arts Alliance SACI grant with an additional BIPOC award for commissioning a work and curating a program inspired by the stories of Metastatic Breast Cancer patients. She is currently the Retirement Coordinator for Monarch Chamber Players, served as the Artist in Residence for the Collington Retirement Community from 2020-2021, worked with Vijay Gupta’s Street Symphony on Skid Row in Los Angeles, and directed City Music Kidz, an El Sistema-inspired music program in Cleveland in 2014.
A sought-after educator and clinician, Burton currently teaches at Sam Houston State University and maintains a thriving home studio. She has given masterclasses at University of Houston, Corpus Christi A&M, Interlochen Center for the Arts, and Kansas State University. She received a Master of Music from Rice University studying with James Dunham, a Bachelor of Music from Cleveland Institute of Music under the tutelage of Jeffrey Irvine and served as Katherine Murdock’s Teaching Assistant while working on her Doctorate at the University of Maryland.