An active proponent of the solo viola, Patricia McCarty has performed to consistent critical acclaim throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Australia and Venezuela, appearing as soloist with orchestras such as the Detroit Symphony, Houston Symphony, Boston Pops, Orchester der Beethovenhalle Bonn, l'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Turiae Camerata of Valencia, and Kyoto and Shinsei Nihon Symphonies. Her recital appearances include New York, San Francisco, Boston, Detroit, Caracas, Valencia, Geneva, five International Viola Congresses, and a debut at London's Wigmore Hall hailed by the Times to be "an outstanding exhibition of string playing of the highest American class." Winner of the First Silver Medal and Radio Prize in the Geneva International Competition when she was eighteen, Ms. McCarty has also been awarded two National Endowment for the Arts Solo Recitalist Grants and the John Knowles Paine Award for performance of new American music. Her recordings for Ashmont, ECM, and Northeastern labels, featuring viola works by Rebecca Clarke, Bach, Telemann, Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann and Keith Jarrett, have received international accolades, including Gramophone's "Critics Choice" and Strad "Selection CD".

As chamber musician Ms. McCarty has performed at festivals including Aspen, Marlboro, Tanglewood, Sarasota, Bowdoin, Aria (Canada), Hokkaido (Japan) and the Australian String Academy in Sydney. She has recorded works by Brahms and Dvorak with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, and has toured with them as well as with Music from Marlboro, the Lenox Quartet and Boston Chamber Music Society. Other collaborations include musicians as diverse as composer Lou Harrison and his gamelan ensemble, contralto Maureen Forrester, and jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, whose work Bridge of Light for viola and orchestra Ms. McCarty commissioned, premiered and has recorded for ECM.