Josh Newburger is the newly appointed principal violist of the Rochester Philharmonic. Formerly the assistant principal violist of the Pacific Symphony, Josh has performed as a guest principal with the Fresno Philharmonic and the Santa Barbara Symphony, and subbed in the sections of the LA Phil, San Diego Symphony, Colorado Symphony, and Buffalo Philharmonic.

During his time in the Los Angeles area Josh recorded for numerous feature films and television productions, working with renowned film composers including John Williams, James Newton Howard, and Ludwig Göransson. Among other credits, he can be heard on the soundtracks for movies from the Star Wars, Lego Movie, Creed, Charlie’s Angels, and IT franchises, and TV series including The Mandalorian, The Orville, and American Dad.

Josh has toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia as a member of the Verbier Festival Chamber orchestra, and a guest musician with Ivan Fischer’s Budapest Festival Orchestra. He was twice selected as the assistant principal violist of the New York String Orchestra and studied as a fellow at the Music Academy of the West and the Verbier Festival.

Josh received his Bachelor’s degree in violin from the New England Conservatory as a student of Nicholas Kitchen. Under the guidance of Rochester native and Eastman alum Michael Klotz, Josh found his voice with the viola and ultimately obtained his Master’s degree in viola from Yale, where he studied with Ettore Causa.