Tracy Silverman (born April 7, 1960) is an American

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist, composer, and producer.

Biography

Born in

Peekskill, New York Peekskill is a city in northwestern Westchester County, New York, United States, from New York City. Established as a village in 1816, it was incorporated as a city in 1940. It lies on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across from ...

and raised in Beloit, Wisconsin, he attended

Beloit Memorial High School Beloit Memorial High School is a public, four-year comprehensive high school in Beloit, Wisconsin. Academics Beloit Memorial has an enrollment of approximately 1,700 students, with 120 full-time certified staff and an average class size of 28 s ...

but left after two years when he was sixteen to enter the

Chicago Musical College Chicago Musical College is a division of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. History Founding Dr. Florenz Ziegfeld Sr (1841–1923), founded the college in 1867 as the Chicago Academy of Music. The institution h ...

. He graduated from the

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

School and performs contemporary classical music,

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Ori ...

, and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, mainly on the six-string

electric violin An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument intentionally made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. It can also refer to a violin fi ...

as well as other fretted and fretless acoustic and electric instruments. He recorded his debut solo album for

Windham Hill Windham Hill Records was an independent record label that specialized in instrumental acoustic music. It was founded by guitarist William Ackerman and Anne Robinson (née McGilvray) in 1976 and was popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The label was ...

and appeared on many of the label's compilations. He was a violinist with the

Turtle Island String Quartet The Turtle Island Quartet is a string quartet that plays hybrids of jazz, classical, and rock music. The group was formed in 1985 by David Balakrishnan, Darol Anger, and Mark Summer in San Francisco. They released their first album on Windham ...

and has performed with pianist

Jim Brickman James Merrill Brickman (born November 20, 1961) is an American pop songwriter, pianist and radio host. Brickman has earned two Grammy nominations for his albums ''Peace'' (2003) for Best Instrumental, and ''Faith'' (2009) for Best New Age Album. ...

and composer

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his music became notable for ...

. He performed at the gala opening of Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles where he was the featured soloist in the premiere of

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...

's composition '' The Dharma at Big Sur'', written specifically for Silverman and his 6-string electric violin. Silverman is the author of "The Strum Bowing Method: How to Groove on Strings" and has taught at

Belmont University Belmont University is a private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporated in 1951 as Belmont College. It be ...

in Nashville, Tennessee. He has also been an instructor at

Mark O'Connor Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961) is an American fiddle player and composer whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Musician Of The Year awards ...

's String Camps as well as The Mark Wood Rock Orchestra Camp.

Discography

As leader or co-leader

* ''Trip to the Sun'' (Windham Hill, 1999) * ''Yangin' with the Yin Crowd'' (Gutbucket, 2001) * ''Superstring'' (with Ferdinand Forsch) (Atelier, 2002 ) * ''North Meets South'' (with Caito Marcondes) (Nucleo Contemporaneo, 2002) * ''I'd Rather Be Dreaming'' (2004) * ''Streaming Video Soul'' (2008) * ''Three Part Invention'' (with Philip Aaberg, Eugene Friesen) (Sweetgrass, 2009) * ''May All Good Things'' (2010) * ''Between the Kiss and the Chaos'' (Delos, 2014) * ''Resonance 2.3'' (2015) * ''Live from Matthew's Opera House (with Roy ("Futureman") Wooten (2018)

With the
Turtle Island String Quartet The Turtle Island Quartet is a string quartet that plays hybrids of jazz, classical, and rock music. The group was formed in 1985 by David Balakrishnan, Darol Anger, and Mark Summer in San Francisco. They released their first album on Windham ...

* ''Who Do We Think We Are?'' (

, 1994) * ''A Night in Tunisia, A Week in Detroit'' (Chandos, 1994) * ''By the Fireside'' (1995)

As guest

* ''On A Starry Night'' (

, 1997) * ''John Adams: The Dharma at Big Sur'' ( Nonesuch, 2006) * ''Palmian Chord Ryddle'' (2017) * ''The Three Generations Trio'' (2017)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silverman, Tracy Living people American jazz violinists American male violinists Juilliard School alumni People from Beloit, Wisconsin Musicians from New York (state) Windham Hill Records artists Belmont University faculty Musicians from Wisconsin Macalester College faculty Nonesuch Records artists Chicago Musical College alumni 21st-century American violinists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Turtle Island Quartet members 1960 births