Marcel Gemperli

Marcel Gemperli serves as Principal Violist of the California Symphony. He has performed regularly with the San Francisco Symphony, including on recordings and on tours to Asia and the East Coast. He was an acting member of the San Diego Symphony from 2017 to 2022 and has also performed with the San Francisco Opera and Ballet. Marcel enjoys recording film scores at Skywalker Sound studios and has performed in many Broadway productions and with diverse artists including Stevie Wonder, Josh Groban, Madeleine Peyroux, and Harry Connick, Jr., among others.

Marcel began playing the viola in the public school system of his native New York State and continued his musical education at Harvard University. Marcel performed for a summer with the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado, and subsequently studied in Europe. He has participated in music festivals including the Mendocino Music Festival, Telluride Chamber Music Festival, and the Midsummer Mozart Festival.