Violist Master Sergeant Tam Tran of Appleton, Wis., joined “The President’s Own” United States Marine Chamber Orchestra in January 2005. He was appointed assistant principal viola in October 2008.

Master Sgt. Tran began his musical training at age 8. Upon graduating in 1994 from Appleton High School in Wisconsin, he earned a bachelor’s degree in viola performance from Northern Illinois University in Dekalb in 2000, where he studied with Richard Young of the Vermeer String Quartet. In 2003, Master Sgt. Tran earned a master’s degree in viola performance and chamber music from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he studied with Yitzhak Schotten. He has pursued doctoral studies at the Stony Brook University in New York, studying with Lawrence Dutton of the Emerson String Quartet.

Master Sgt. Tran performs regularly at the White House for State Dinners, receptions, and other White House functions, and throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.