Robert Elder is principal violist with the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera. Cooking is his hobby.ROBERT ELDER* Age: 42.* Hometown: Westfield, N.J.* Education: Temple University, Ball State University.* Vocation: Principal violist, Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, part-time music teacher at Covenant College.FAVORITES* Movie: “The Shining.”* Play: “Krapp’s Last Tape.”* Song: Second movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet, Opus 132, and “any Chicago song before they discovered the synthesizer.”* Least favorite song: “Any Andrew Lloyd Webber song makes me question my career choice.”
Robert Elder began playing the violin in the third grade because he realized it would get him out of regular classes. In middle school, he was asked to play with the high school band and was introduced to the viola, a slightly larger instrument, and he was instantly hooked.
“I came to it arbitrarily,” he said. “They put a viola in my hands, and I thought, ‘This is incredible.’ Immediately I was captivated. To me, it had a warmer sound, and it just resonated with me. I never looked back,” he said.
From that point on, he said, he knew he would play professionally.
He joined the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera in 2000 after seeing an ad for auditions looking for symphony and string quartet players.