Richard Yongjae O'Neill

Violist Richard O'Neill is among the world's most successful exponents of his instrument. He is especially popular in his ancestral country of South Korea. O'Neill was born in Sequim, Washington, on December 31, 1978. His mother was a Korean war orphan who suffered mental disabilities as a result of malnutrition. O'Neill was raised by his mother's foster parents, from whom he received his surname, and he has sometimes used the name Richard Yongjae O'Neill. He took up the violin at age five and switched to the viola at a teacher's suggestion. His musical ambitions were support...