Margarete Clark, viola

When did you join the National Symphony Orchestra?

November 8,1994.

Why did you choose to play your instrument?

As a child I loved listening to chamber music being played at home and I wanted to join in. I took up violin and fairly soon changed to viola because there was always a need for viola players.

What made you decide to pursue a career in music?

When I was young, my mother took me to concerts. We went to hear Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gidon Kremer and the Melos Quartet. I was enthralled.

Where did you study?

In Karlsruhe and in Vienna.

Who is your favourite composer and what is your favourite work?

Hard to say. I love Bach, Mozart and Brahms. The string quintets and sextets by Brahms would be one of my favourites.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not playing with the orchestra?

Playing tennis. We also recently got a rescue kitten which is a lovely new experience.

If you weren’t a musician, what would you most like to be?

Something to do with languages. I like words.

What is your greatest achievement – musical or general?

Playing one of the viola d’amore solos in Bach’s St John Passion in the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona

What is the best piece of advice you ever received – either musical or general?

Take a breather.

You’re stranded on a desert island. You’re allowed 3 CDs. What would they be, and why?

Brahms string sextets with the Vienna String Sextet; William Lawes Five- and Six-part Fantasias with the Oberlin Consort of Viols; Hugo Wolf’s MörikeLieder with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, one of my mum’s records I loved.

If you could have dinner with anyone (alive or dead) who would it be, and why?

The Dalai Lama. Although I wouldn’t really know what to say to him!