SoCal Viols is the southern California chapter of the Viola da Gamba Society of America, a non-profit organization dedicated to education about and enjoyment of the viola da gamba and its music. Members include players (from novice to advanced), instrument makers, teachers and performers. If you love the music of the viola da gamba, or want to learn more about it, consider joining SoCal Viols. Member benefits include:

• free bi-monthly playdays year-round. Our morning group session, led by a professional musician, is followed by both coached and informal consort playing sessions.

• our bi-monthly members’ e-newsletter, containing information about the upcoming playday and members’ activities, as well as upcoming concerts, workshops, and other events featuring the viol.

• the opportunity to rent a viol and bow from our collection of instruments or to borrow sheet music from our borrowing library.

Our membership area includes all of southern California from San Diego to Santa Barbara. We have held playdays at St. James Episcopal Church in South Pasadena, Pomona College in Claremont, Chapman University in Orange, and Cuyamaca College, El Cajon. We hope to circulate our meeting sites around Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties to provide convenient locations for all of our membership.

SoCal Viols began with a meeting of viol players in 2019. We are incorporated as a 501c(3) organization and held our first playday in January 2020. Our second playday was canceled as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, but after a year off we were been able to come together again, offering a mix of in-person and virtual coaching sessions with a variety of viol teachers.

SoCal Viols benefits from the history of viol playing in southern California. Viols/West was an active chapter of the VdGSA, founded circa 1970. After several years of dormancy, Viols/West officially ceased in 2020 and its assets were bequeathed to SoCal Viols. This included two bass viols, a treble viol, and an extensive music collection. The conception of SoCal Viols has received tremendous support, and there is much excitement about the reinvigoration of viol activity in southern California.

Current board members and roles:
Shanon Zusman, President and Librarian
Lucy Jones, Chapter Representative
Philip Schlosberg, Secretary
Ellen Stern, Treasurer
Malachai Bandy, Rental Manager
Suzy Hertzberg, Membership Coordinator
Chris Muscatello, Webmaster

About the Society

The mission of the Viola da Gamba Society of America is to support activities and resources relating to the viola da gamba, other early bowed string instruments, and the music for these instruments in North America and beyond. We are a Society of players, builders, publishers, composers, scholars, restorers, and others sharing a serious interest in these beautiful instruments, their history, and their music, both old and new.

​The VdGSA is a not-for-profit national organization, incorporated in 1962 by a small nucleus of enthusiastic viol players who frequently met to play consort music in rural Maryland. The concept of an annual Conclave was born at that time, when the group was small enough to be accommodated in private homes. As membership increased, Conclaves began taking place at educational institutions across the country.

​The Society’s membership has grown to about 1100 individuals and institutions worldwide. Beyond the national organization, we have more than 20 official chapters and over 30 area representatives that cover more loosely-organized geographical areas in the United States, Canada, and abroad. Our chapters and area groups organize consort playing, workshops, and other activities on the local level.