Claus Conrad (viola) was born in Dortmund in 1935 and studied viola and composition at the ''Folkwang Hochschule'' in Essen. After working for several years at the Frankfurt/Main Opera House, he joined the ''NDR Symphony Orchestra'' in 1967 as assistant priincipal violist, where he remained until his retirement in 2000. He was a lecturer at the Hamburg Conservatory and participated in various chamber music associations and in the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. Claus Conrad appeared occasionally in public with his own works.
