Johnny Gandelsman
{{Short description|Russian-Israeli violinist}}
{{Infobox musical artist
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| name = Johnny Gandelsman
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| image = BKRider(cropped).jpg
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| image_size = 220px
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| caption = Gandelsman in 2015
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| birth_date = 1978
| birth_place = Moscow, USSR
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| genre = Classical, experimental{{cite news |last1=Howe |first1=Brian |title=Johnny Gandelsman: This Is America |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/johnny-gandelsman-this-is-america/ |access-date=12 November 2024 |work=Pitchfork |publisher=Condé Nast |date=12 July 2022}}
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| instrument = Violin
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| current_member_of = Brooklyn Rider
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Johnny Gandelsman (born 1978) is a Russian-Israeli violinist and music producer, known for his work as a member of the American string quartet Brooklyn Rider as well as his solo work.{{cite web |title=Johnny Gandelsman |url=https://www.bso.org/profiles/johnny-gandelsman |website=BSO |publisher=Boston Symphony Orchestra |access-date=12 November 2024 |language=en-us}}{{cite news |last1=Hernández |first1=Javier C. |title=A Violinist on a Mission to Capture America, Division and All |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/07/arts/music/johnny-gandelsman-this-is-america.html |access-date=12 November 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=7 November 2024}} From 2009-14 he performed with The Knights ensemble, and in 2013 he was a soloist with them at the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series. {{Cite web |title=Notable Events and Performers |url=https://naumburgconcerts.org/notable-events-and-performers |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=Naumburg Orchestral Concerts |language=en-US}}
In 2024, he was the recipient of a MacArthur Grant.{{cite news |last1=Roberts |first1=Roxanne |title=Meet the 2024 MacArthur ‘genius grant’ winners |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/of-interest/2024/10/01/macarthur-genius-grant-fellows-2024/ |access-date=12 November 2024 |work=The Washington Post |date=1 October 2024}}{{cite web |title=Johnny Gandelsman |url=https://www.macfound.org/fellows/class-of-2024/johnny-gandelsman |website=www.macfound.org |publisher=MacArthur Foundation |access-date=12 November 2024 |language=en}}
Biography
Gandelsman was born in Moscow, in the then-USSR, to a violist father and a pianist mother. His sister is also a violinist. His family left Moscow for Israel in 1990, and Gandelsman moved to the United States at the age of 17.
Career
In 2020, Gandelsman recorded Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suites on the violin, in a performance The New York Times called "feather-light and rooted in dance and folk music".{{cite news |last1=Barone |first1=Joshua |title=Bach’s Cello Suites, Now on Violin, With a Folksy Feel |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/01/arts/music/johnny-gandelsman-bach-cello.html |access-date=12 November 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=1 June 2021}}
On November 8 and 9, 2024, the week of the 2024 United States presidential election, Gandelsman performed his piece This is America at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Initially released in 2022, This is America consists of 28 pieces Gandelsman commissioned from a variety of musicians, including Rhiannon Giddens, Angélica Negrón, and Conrad Tao.{{cite news |last1=Howe |first1=Brian |title=Johnny Gandelsman: This Is America |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/johnny-gandelsman-this-is-america/ |access-date=12 November 2024 |work=Pitchfork |publisher=Condé Nast |date=12 July 2022}}
References
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