AARON WESTMAN (viola) has become one of the most sought after period instrumentalists on the west coast. Since returning to his native California in 2005, he has performed as a soloist with the American Bach Soloists and Seicento String Band, a principal player with Bach Collegium San Diego, Jubilate Orchestra, Sonoma and San Francisco Bach Choirs, and regularly as a member of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Musica Angelica, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Ensemble Mirable, and El Mundo.  His chamber ensemble Agave Baroque won the 2009 Early Music America/APAP competition to perform in NYC, and was recently commissioned by the Museum of Jurassic Technology to collaborate on a forthcoming album/art film of 17th Century English music, entitled Cold Genius.  Aaron has performed and toured throughout the US, Mexico, Canada, and Europe. He has recorded live and in the studio with the above groups, as well as for Hollywood, Magnatune, ORF, National Public Radio’s “Performance Today,” and on the NCA and Dorian/Sono Luminus labels. He holds a Master of Music from the Indiana University School of Music, where he studied with Stanley Ritchie.  Aaron taught at California Institute of the Arts for three years, and for Fall 2010, he is Director of the Young People's Chamber Orchestra, a conductorless youth ensemble in Santa Rosa, where he now lives.  In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, making beer, wine tasting, camping, hiking, and gardening.