Ursula Skaug

Biography

Ursula Skaug had a broad musical upbringing; she took violin, piano and choir classes. When she fell for the warm and luscious sound of the viola, she started learning the viola with Julia Dinerstein at the Hellendaal Violin Institute in Rotterdam. Ursula currently studies at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague with Mikhail Zemtsov. She had masterclasses with (among others) Jennifer Stumm, Francien Schatborn, Asdis Valdimarsdottir, Gavriel Lipkind, Alexander Zemtsov, Geneviève Strosser, Isabelle van Keulen and Nobuko Imai.

Ursula received the main prize at the Maassluise Muziekweek, the first prize at the Britten Altvioolconcours 2013 and a second prize at the Prinses Christina Concours 2016 Rotterdam. She had solo appearances with the Concerto Grosso Ensemble, Britten Youth String Orchestra, the Delft Symphony Orchestra and the Tollens Ensemble. In the Summer of 2018 she was the principal violist of the National Youth Orchestra of The Netherlands (NJO).

Ursula is experienced in chamber music, attending the Akoesticum Talent Programme in 2018, which included coachings by Jean-Bernard Pommier, David Dolan, Jan Talich, Malcolm Singer and Gregor Horsch.

Ursula plays on a Daniël Royé viola built for her in 2017.