Lenny Schranze, a native of Philadelphia, graduated from the Eastman School of Music and the New England Conservatory. His major teachers include Heidi Castleman, Heiichiro Ohyama, Dorothy Delay, Max Aronoff, and Evelyn Jacobs. A founding member of the Ceruti String Quartet, he is currently associate professor of viola at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of music at the University of Memphis. He spends his summers at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, where he is the director of the strings program. He is a former faculty member at Furman University, The South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts, and the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, South Carolina, where he won an award from Chamber Music America for “excellence in chamber music instruction." A past president of the Tennessee Chapter of the American String Teachers Association, he received a three year grant from the National String Project consortium. As a chamber musician, he has performed in concert halls around the country, including Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall and has performed internationally in Switzerland, South Korea, and Brazil. His solo recordings include the works for viola and piano by Robert Schumann and the sonatas of Johannes Brahms. Reviews describe Mr. Schranze's viola playing as “passionate and beautifully resonant." He lives in Memphis with his wife, violist Jane Schranze and their four children.