Jeffrey Dyrda

Canadian violinist Jeffrey Dyrda has enjoyed performing for audiences across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He has performed as principal with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, the New World Symphony, the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, and the Verbier Festival Orchestras. Jeff was appointed Assistant Concertmaster of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in 2022 and joined the violin section of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in the fall of 2024. 

A dedicated chamber musician, Jeff is a former member of the Rolston String Quartet, with whom he received the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award and the First Prize of the Banff International String Quartet Competition, among others. Performance highlights included appearances at the Spoleto, Banff, Cliburn, and Norfolk festivals and on concert series in many of the world’s finest chamber music halls. 

As an educator, Jeff’s activities include private teaching, masterclasses, and community outreach in Canada, the U.S., and abroad. He has instructed chamber music at the Virginia Tech Intensive Chamber Music Seminar, as well as at Yale University as part of the Fellowship String Quartet in Residence and has also been a provincial adjudicator for the Associated Manitoba Arts Festival. Jeff received a Fellowship from the New World Symphony in Miami Beach and is a graduate of Rice University, the New England Conservatory of Music, and McGill University.

In the summers, Jeff greatly enjoys performing as a regular member of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, and the Lakes Area Music Festival. He is also an accomplished jazz saxophonist.

Originally from Oakbank, Manitoba, Jeff lives in Ottawa with his wife, cellist Grace An, and their son, Franklin, and plays on a 1921 violin by Romeo Antoniazzi.