Carlos Walker, a violist from St. Petersburg, Florida, is currently pursuing a masters degree in viola performance from The Juilliard School. With chamber music being one of their most treasured passions, they found a love for the viola while playing Samuel Barber’s String Quartet. Since finding their voice, Carlos has completed a Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance at the McDuffie Center for Strings, and had the pleasure of participating in NYO-USA, Aspen Music Festival and School, Heifetz International Music Institute and more. 

In 2022, Carlos made their international debut at the Rome Chamber Music Festival performing in the Teatro Argentina in Rome, Italy. In this same year, Carlos won 1st Prize in the American Viola Society Collegiate Solo Competition. Carlos’ current teachers are Heidi Castleman and Samuel Rhodes at the McDuffie Center, they studied with Rebecca Albers and Victoria Chiang, and performed in masterclasses for violists such as Dimitri Murrath, Ettore Causa and Hsin-Yun Huang.

As part of the Fabian Concert Series at the McDuffie Center, Carlos has collaborated with artists such as Edward Aaron, Fabiola Kim, Sihoa He, Jeewon Park, Amy Shwartz-Moretti and the Cavani Quartet. Beyond this, since being at Juilliard, Carlos has collaborated with Juilliard faculty, Natasha Brofsky during chamberfest which culminated in a performance in Alice Tully Hall. As a chamber musician, in 2023 Carlos won 2nd prize in St. Paul String Quartet Competition and participated in the 2023 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Outside of performing, Carlos has a strong interest in teaching and increasing accessibility to music and firmly believes that everyone’s unique experience brings value to music making worldwide.