Watch Gilharmonic on Violinist.com

Welcome to the happiest hour of violin talk online, with hosts Gil Shaham and Violinist.com Editor Laurie Niles. Everyone can be a member of the Gilharmonic - there's no audition necessary! You'll find violinists from a wide range of experience and skill on the show, but all share the same level of love and commitment for our favorite instrument.

Season 1

Episode 1 — Gypsy jazz violinist Jason Anick from Berklee College of Music, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music student KayCee Galano and Suzuki student Joanne Zhu.
Bonus video: Jason Anick's Minor Swing

Episode 2 — Former Sphinx laureate Elena Urioste and her husband Tom Poster perform "Un Sonnet d’Amour" from Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Petite Suite de Concert, Op. 77. University of Southern California student Elizabeth Wei, a student of Lina Bahn, plays an except from Max Bruch's "Scottish Fantasie." Vaishi Sharma, 14, from Aurora, Ill. and a student of Ann Montzka Smelser, plays the first movement "Largo" from Henry Eccles' Sonata in G minor.

Episode 3 — Grammy nominee and bluegrass virtuoso Tessa Lark performs the last movement from Ysaÿe's Sonata No. 4. Faustina Housner, who just finished her freshman year at the Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, studying with Kathleen Winkler, will play selections from Béla Bartók's "Rumanian Folk Dances." Grant Jensen, 10, from Santa Monica, Calif. and a student of Morgan Gerstmar plays "Gavotte" by Martini.
Bonus video: Tessa Lark teaches Bluegrass fiddle

Episode 4 — London-based violinist Roberts Balanas, 25, whose virtuoso rendition of Elton John's "I'm Still Standing" recently went viral, plays his arrangement of AC/DC's "Back in Black." Master teacher Kurt Sassmannshaus, founder of ViolinMasterclass.com and professor of violin at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, performs with student Christina Nam. Claire Lee, 10, from Farmington, Conn. and a student of Christie Felsing, plays Rameau's "Gavotte" for us.

Episode 5 — Virtuoso Hungarian Gypsy violinist Roby Lakatos and his Ensemble perform "Tic Tac." Rabia Brooke, who just completed her freshman year at The Juilliard School where she is a student of Catherine Cho, plays an excerpt from Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2. Yugo Maeda, 8, from Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif and a student of Gail Gerding Mellert, plays the "Preludio" from Partita No. 3 by J.S. Bach.
Bonus video: Gil Shaham - Bach Preludio, a Chromatic Ascent

Episode 6 — Kelly Hall-Tompkins, an award-winning classical soloist who also was the "Fiddler" in the Broadway production of "Fiddler on the Roof" for more than 400 performances, performs a selection from her album, "The Fiddler Expanding Tradition." Jasmine Li, 13, from Los Angeles and a student of Margaret Lysy at the Sol La Music Academy, plays the first movement from Kabalevsky's Concerto in C Major Violin - accompanied by herself. Samantha Washecka, 15, from Round Rock, Texas and a student of William Fedkenheuer of the Miró Quartet, performs "Banjo and Fiddle" by William Kroll.

Episode 7 — Grammy winning bluegrass musician Stuart Duncan, who recently collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer for album called "Not Our First Goat Rodeo," a followup to their 2011 "Goat Rodeo Sessions" album, plays "The New Democracy," which can also be heard on the Nashville Bluegrass Band's 1991 album "Home of the Blues." The Stars Aligned Siblings - a very young quartet from San Pablo, Calif. whose membersare all siblings from the Breshears family: violinists Dustin, 13, and Valery, 11; cellist Starla, 12; and violist Colin, 8 - play the first movement of Beethoven's Quartet, Op. 18, No. 6. Kaylah Walker, 14, from Virginia Beach, Va., plays the first movement of de Beriot's Concerto No. 7 for Violin.

Episode 8 — Los Angeles violinist Vijay Gupta, 2018 recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Grant who also founded "Street Symphony" to bring music performances and education to homeless and incarcerated communities, plays "When the Violin" by LA-based composer Reena Esmail. Colburn student John Fawcett plays one of the most difficult pieces in all the repertoire, the "Last Rose of Summer" by Wilhelm Ernst. And our youngest guest so far, Claire Oviedo, plays "Andantino" from Suzuki Book 1 and talks to us about her very impressive practice streak of 342 consecutive days!

Watch Gilharmonic on Violinist.com

Season 1

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