Molly Wise attends the 2023 TSM Academy courtesy of the Bryan Graham Memorial Fellowship.

Hometown: Fairfax, Virginia

Recognized by the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) for possessing “unusual creativity and expression,” Darius Milhaud Foundation Award recipient Molly Wise is a violist who uses performance to inspire and educate audiences. She performs extensively throughout Houston, Texas with classical and contemporary organizations including Musiqa Houston, Kinetic Ensemble, and Da Camera of Houston, in art museums, concert halls, elementary school classrooms, and more. Recent highlights include the world-premiere performance of “Mekong: SOUL” with Vanessa Vo and the Apollo Chamber Players at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; “Golden Worlds: The Portable Universe of Indigenous Colombia,” a flute, harp, and viola concert at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston; and two doctoral recitals at Rice University highlighting lesser-known solo and chamber works by women composers. Molly attends the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University as a Doctor of Musical Arts student, having graduated from Rice with her master’s degree and from CIM with her bachelor’s degree. She is a recipient of the Benjamin Armistead Shepherd Teaching Fellowship and has served as James Dunham’s teaching assistant for the past three years.  

Molly made her solo debut performing Penderecki’s Viola Concerto with the CIM Orchestra and has since won second prize in the Ruth Barr Competition of the Houston Tuesday Musical Club, was a finalist in the American Viola Society Solo Competition, and has enjoyed orchestral leadership as guest principal of the Amarillo Symphony, and as principal of the Shepherd School, Sarasota Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, and CIM Orchestras.