There are many ways to express yourself on a string instrument in addition to traditional classical music. Here are some fantastic artists expressing music through jazz, improvisation, and the music of different cultures that you can enjoy and imagine your musical voice through.
Tracy Silverman || solo electric violin and loop pedal
Lauded by the BBC as “the greatest living exponent of the electric violin”, Tracy Silverman’s groundbreaking work with the 6-string electric violin defies musical boundaries. Enjoy!
Jessie Montgomery || Big Dog Little Dog
Jessie Montgomery is a New York native violinist, composer and music educator, performing and giving workshops throughout the United States and abroad. An active chamber musician and collaborator, Jessie has performed with the highly acclaimed Catalyst Quartet, raved by the New York Times as “invariably energetic and finely burnished…performing with earthly vigor”. She joins with bassist Eleanore Oppenheim to form Big Dog Little Dog and shares their minimalist improv work, well described as “post-minimalist Groove Americana”. https://bigdoglittledog.band/bio
Jose Hernandez || Mariachi Nationals
Superstar Jose Hernandez has created the Mariachi Nationals and supported the creation of many new music programs inspired by the Mariachi tradition. Here’s some great video about Mariachi Nationals and what they do to support music and kids!
Mike Block || cello
Mike Block is a pioneering multi-style cellist, singer, composer, and educator, hailed by Yo-Yo Ma as the “ideal musician of the 21st-Century”, and acclaimed by the NY Times for his “vital rich-hued solo playing.”