Charles Noble

Assistant Principal Viola

Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund Principal Viola Chair

Charles Noble is the assistant principal viola of the Oregon Symphony. He has also appeared as a soloist with the Oregon Symphony, as well as with the orchestras of the Cascade and Sunriver music festivals in central Oregon.

Charles holds degrees from the University of Puget Sound, the University of Maryland, and the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, where his primary teachers were Joyce Ramée, Joseph de Pasquale, Michael Tree, and Roberto Díaz. Charles has won several prizes and awards, including the C.D. Jackson Award at the Tanglewood Music Center, the Israel Dorman Memorial Award at Peabody, and first prize at the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle Frances Walton Competition.

In summer, Charles serves as principal viola of the Sunriver Music Festival. He has also played with the Oregon Bach Festival orchestra since 1996, is a frequent performer at the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival, and was a participant in the 2015 Bang on a Can Marathon in New York City. In 2002, 2004, and 2006, Charles was a featured performer at the International Viola Society’s annual Congress.

In addition to his orchestral work, Charles is an active chamber musician. He is a founding member of both the Ethos and Arnica String Quartets, and has been a member of the Third Angle String Quartet since 2014. In addition to his busy performing schedule, Charles teaches viola at the University of Portland. He plays on a 1997 Gabrielle Kundert viola.