Tristan Best is an early string instrument player currently based in Montréal, Quebec. With roots in New York and Nova Scotia, Best moved to Montréal in 2016 to study the viola da gamba and early music performance at McGill University. After completing a B.Mus. in viola da gamba performance, he obtained an M.Mus. in 2021 under the tutelage of Betsy MacMillan and Elin Söderström. He performs regularly with Montréal-based ensemble Les Barocudas, has participated in the Montreal Baroque Festival and won the Founder’s Prize along with second place as a soloist in the 2022 Mathieu-Duguay Early Music Competition. Outside of performance, Best is an educator and has given workshops and lectures throughout Canada and the United States on the viola da gamba. Aside from the bass viola da gamba, he plays the treble and tenor viols in consort as well as the lirone. He is currently exploring the repertoire of contemporary music for the bass viol and continues to study methods of historically informed improvisation and composition.