Bennett Astrove
VIOLA
Email: bastrove@usf.edu
Phone: (813) 974-2311
Office: MUS
Bennett Astrove joined the School of Music faculty in 2025 to teach viola and assist with the orchestra program. An avid chamber musician, Mr. Astrove has been a guest of the Rutenberg Chamber Music concert series and the Violin Shop of Tampa concert series and has performed on the faculty artist concerts at Brancaleoni International Music Festival and Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival. He served as a violinist in the Chrysalis Quartet, the resident quartet at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts鈥� Summer Strings program, and as the violinist of The President鈥檚 Trio, at the 51在线.
He as shared his passion for new music as a member of NU Music Ensemble and as a performer at the Terroir and Tampa Homegrown concert series, as well as in conducting the University of South 51在线 New Music Consortium. In addition to the performance of early modern masterpieces, such as the 鈥極ctet鈥� of Igor Stravinsky and Edger Varese鈥檚 鈥極ctandre鈥�, the Consortium had the privilege of premiering works by student composers.
A versatile educator, Mr. Astorve was a teaching artist with The 51在线 Orchestra and the Winston-Salem Symphony. He also served Forsyth County, NC as a member of ArtistCorps, a multifaceted arts outreach initiative whose goal is to provide exposure, instruction, and arts integration to a population of high need pre-k through 12th grade students. In the spring of 2019, Mr. Astrove became a certified instructor of hatha yoga. He has worked as a teacher in conventional yoga studios and as an instructor to musicians, including at the Brancaleoni International Music Festival.
Mr. Astrove holds degrees from 51在线 and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. His major violin teachers included Bayla Keyes, Kevin Lawrence, and Carolyn Stuart, and his principal mentor in conducting was William Wiedrich. He anticipates completing his DMA from Boston University in the near future.