Raphael Chinn is a California-born violist currently based in Glasgow. He undertook pre-conservatory training with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division, and studied closely with many of the finest classical artists in the United States––among them Paul Yarbrough, the founding violist of the Alexander String Quartet, Kay Stern, concertmaster of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, and Chauncey Patterson, violist of the Miami String Quartet. A keen chamber musician, he has performed in various capacities on both coasts of the United States, appearing as part of the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina, and presenting programmes at many venues in his native San Francisco Bay Area. 

In 2014 he began studies in Viola Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS), from which he has received his Bachelor of Music with Honours as well as his Master of Arts in Chamber Music. He received scholarships to undertake both courses, and studied under the tutelage of Duncan Ferguson throughout his time at the RCS.

Raphael has also appeared in numerous masterclasses with many of today’s most esteemed viola players, including Roger Chase, professor of viola at Trinity Laban, Robert Vernon, former principal violist of the Cleveland Orchestra,  and the soloist Paul Coletti, professor of viola at the Colburn Conservatory of Music.

He has toured throughout the United Kingdom and the Continent, which has involved performing chamber music in Scotland and England as well as participating in orchestral and operatic projects in Italy.

Raphael has played with the Resol String Quartet since early 2020.