10 Jun Welcome newly elected AVS Board Members!
The American Viola Society warmly welcomes our 2025-2028 cohort of elected AVS Board Members!
Ruben Balboa
DJ Cheek
Anthony Devroye
Joyce Tseng
Please read their bios below to get to know them better as they prepare to begin their terms of service on July 1, 2025. The organization is grateful to these individuals for their dedication and service to the viola community, and we look forward to their contributions to further American Viola Society programs over the next three years.
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Ruben Balboa is a violist, educator, and conductor dedicated to performance, mentorship, and expanding viola education. He will join the faculty at Wichita State University as Assistant Professor of Viola/Violin and String Music Education in Fall 2025. Prior to this appointment, he held faculty positions at The University of Texas at Austin, Illinois State University, Texas State University, and Southwestern University, including serving as Assistant Director of the UT String Project. A versatile performer, he has collaborated with ensembles such as Austin Camerata, Invoke, and the Miró Quartet, and regularly performs with orchestras and opera companies, including Austin Opera and Dallas Opera. Passionate about expanding the viola’s repertoire, he has commissioned and premiered new works, including Tejano Suite for Viola & Piano by Alex Molina Shawver at the 2024 American
Viola Society Festival in Los Angeles. Committed to fostering the next generation of musicians and educators, he actively mentors students, leads youth orchestras, and engages in community music initiatives. One of his greatest joys is performing viola, voice, and piano recitals with his wife, Samantha.
DJ Cheek joined the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra as Principal Viola in August 2021 and made his solo debut with the orchestra in 2023 performing the Bartók Viola Concerto. This season he will appear as soloist in works by Bruch and Mozart. Prior to his current appointment, DJ played Principal Viola in the Jacksonville Symphony. In recent years he appeared as guest Principal with the Indianapolis Symphony and IRIS Orchestra in Tennessee, and as a substitute with the Dallas Symphony. For the 2024-2025 academic year, DJ is Visiting Artist / Teacher of Viola at Baylor University. He recently joined the faculty of Kneisel Hall and Texas Chamber Music Institute, and he performs at the Colorado Music Festival and teaches at the Interlochen Chamber Music Camp. He has appeared at festivals such as Music@Menlo, the Perlman Music Program, Lucerne, Sarasota, Olympic, and Yellow Barn. DJ performed as a guest artist with Donald Weilerstein and Kim Kashkashian in support of Music for Food, and he continues to perform with the Music for Food chapter in Fort Worth. DJ holds a master’s degree from New England Conservatory and a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin 4 College Conservatory, where he studied with Kim Kashkashian and Peter Slowik, respectively. He was further mentored by Beth Guterman Chu.
Anthony Devroye is violist of the Avalon String Quartet and Professor of Viola at Northern Illinois University. He has performed with the quartet throughout the US and internationally. The quartet’s recordings on the Cedille, Bridge, and Albany labels have garnered critical and popular acclaim. Outside of the quartet Mr. Devroye performs frequently with the Chicago Symphony and as a guest with chamber ensembles. As an administrator he previously served as Artistic Director of Rush Hour Concerts in Chicago, and has been on the Executive Board of the American Viola Society since 2022. He is a graduate of Columbia University and the Curtis Institute, where he studied with Michael Tree and Roberto Diaz.
Joyce Tseng is an experienced performer in a diverse range of musical styles and ensembles. She has appeared with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Eastman Philharmonia, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Heifetz International Music Institute, and the Hong Kong Festival Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Joyce has studied at the Ashkenasi/Kirshbaum Chamber Music Seminar at the Heifetz International Music Institute, as well as with the Ying Quartet. She has delivered solo recitals at the American Viola Society Festivals and Eastman School of Music, featuring repertoire from Bach to contemporary commissions, and her concerto highlights include the Hoffmeister Viola Concerto with the Macao Orchestra. Joyce’s awards include the Robert L. Oppelt Viola Prize (2019 & 2022; an award presented annually to an outstanding violist at Eastman), third prize in the 2024 Orchestral Audition Competition at AVS, second prize in the 2018 AVS Solo Competition (Collegiate Division), and first prizes in the Macao Young Musicians Competitions (Viola Solo and String Concerto, 2014). A dedicated educator, Joyce spent five years as Teaching Assistant in Professor George Taylor’s viola studio at the Eastman School of Music, where she coached undergraduates and led small‑group Strings I & II technique classes for Music Education majors. She also served as a secondary viola instructor at Eastman and currently serves as a chamber ensemble coach at the University of Rochester. As a violin/viola mentor for New Horizons Green Strings at the Eastman Community Music School, she guided adult learners in developing performance skills. Currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Viola Performance and Literature under Phillip Ying, Joyce holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Eastman and has refined her artistry through summer studies with Masao Kawasaki, Roberto Díaz, Robert Vernon, and masterclasses by Kim Kashkashian, Atar Arad, Hsin‑Yun Huang, and others.