Earning top prizes and fellowships in his native Britain and beyond, violist Timothy Ridout emerged as a major figure on his instrument in the late 2010s. His career has emphasized music of the 20th century.

Ridout was born in London in 1995. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Martin Outram, graduating in 2016 with the Queen's Commendation for Excellence. That year, he became the first British violist to take first prize at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition on the Isle of Man. He went on to take master classes from Lawrence Power, Maxim Rysanov, and Hartmut Rohde, among others. During a stint in Germany, Ridout's name and playing were spread by appearances at various prestigious festivals, including the International Music Festival in Bad Kissingen, the Kronberg Academy Festival (where he also studied with Nobuko Imai), and the Next Generation Festival in Bad Ragaz. In 2017, Ridout began his recording career on the Champs Hill label with an album of the complete viola works of Henri Vieuxtemps. Ridout earned a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and was designated a BBC New Generation Artist in 2019.

With those credentials, Ridout began to attract concerto slots with major orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, and the Tapiola Sinfonietta. His chamber music collaborators are a distinguished group, including violinists Joshua Bell and Isabelle Faust and pianist Frank Dupree. He has given recitals at Wigmore Hall in London as well as at other major venues around Britain, continental Europe, and Japan. In 2020, Ridout released an album of music for viola and chamber orchestra by Britten, Vaughan Williams, Hindemith, and Martinu on the Claves label. He returned the following year on Harmonia Mundi with the album A Poet's Love, featuring a transcription for viola of Schumann's song cycle Dichterliebe on which he was accompanied by pianist Dupree. ~ James Manheim, Rovi