Tracy Silverman

electric violin

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.  The world’s foremost concert electric violinist, Silverman was named one of 100 distinguished alumni by the Julliard School.

Formerly first violinist with the innovative Turtle Island String Quartet, Silverman has contributed significantly to the repertoire and development of what he calls “21st century violin playing.” His work has inspired several major concertos composed specifically for him, including Pulitzer winner John Adams’ “The Dharma At Big Sur,” premiered with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the gala opening of Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2003 and recorded with the BBC Symphony on Nonesuch Records with Adams conducting.  Legendary “Father of Minimalism” Terry Riley’s electric violin concerto, “The Palmian Chord Ryddle,” was premiered by Silverman with the Nashville Symphony in Carnegie Hall in 2012 and recorded by Naxos Records, and Kenji Bunch’s “Embrace” concerto was co-commissioned by 9 orchestras and premiered by Silverman in 2014.  Silverman’s 2014 recording for Delos/Naxos Records, “Between the Kiss and the Chaos,” features the Calder Quartet collaborating on Silverman’s 2nd electric violin concerto of the same title, and he is currently performing premieres of the full orchestra version of Nico Muhly’s “Seeing Is Believing,” commissioned by a consortium of five orchestras.      

The Chicago Tribune’s John von Rhein hailed Silverman’s “blazing virtuosity” and the New York Times’ Anthony Tommasini admired his “fleet agility and tangy expressiveness”.  “Inspiring.  Silverman is in a class of his own,” wrote Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times.