Lillian Fuchs was a violist from the United States and one of the first women to appear in America as a regular string quartet member. In 1926, Fuchs' debut concert as a violinist took place. Invited by Marianne Kneisel to pursue an all-female string quartet the same year, she turned to viola. In 1927, as a violist, Lillian joined the Perolé String Quartet. The Perolé Quartet has been featured on daily Sunday radio broadcasts through WOR in New York City and live concerts. For 15 years, Fuchs played with them and went on to act as a second violist with the Budapest String Quartet, earning her recognition in the highest ranks of chamber music. She started to connect with her brother, Joseph Fuchs, in 1940. Their critically praised Mozart Sinfonia Concertante appearances helped add new life to this and other classical duos.

Fuchs also spent success with important symphony orchestras as a soloist. Fuchs promoted new music and produced compositions composed particularly for her by many composers, including Bohuslav Martinu, Three Madrigals (Madrigaly, 1947) and Viola and Piano Sonata (1955); Quincy Porter, Viola and Harp Duo (1957); and Jacques de Menasce, Viola and Piano Sonata (1955). Many viola compositions, such as Bach's Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, have been adapted by Fuchs; she was the first violist to document all six Bach suites, which she did on Decca records. She published some of her compositions for violin and piano, like Jota, and published a variety of works devoted to the growth of the viola's techniques. Fuchs instructed and coached other chamber music performers throughout her long career, including Isaac *Stern and Pinchas *Zukerman. In 1962, she was contracted to coach chamber music by the Manhattan School of Music. She took a position at Juilliard in 1971 and entered the staff at Mannes College of Music in 1989, teaching until 1993 at both institutions.