Jeremy Kittel


Jeremy Kittel is an American musician and composer. His primary instruments are the violin / fiddle and viola and he has worked in a number of genres including Celtic, Jazz, Pop, Classical, Bluegrass, Folk music, and more.
He leads his namesake group, Kittel & Co. and has worked with many prominent artists, including Béla Fleck, Abigail Washburn, Zedd, Fleet Foxes, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile, Shawn Mendes, My Morning Jacket, Yo-Yo Ma, the Silk Road Ensemble, Paquito D’Rivera, Mark O'Connor, Turtle Island Quartet, Jon Batiste, Aoife O'Donovan, Jars of Clay, Darol Anger, and Tally Hall.

Biography

Kittel grew up in Saline, Michigan. He attended the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance for his undergraduate degree and earned his master's degree in jazz violin from the Manhattan School of Music in 2007.
Jeremy Kittel has performed as a soloist with many orchestras including the Detroit Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic and Orlando Philharmonic. He was a guest on A Prairie Home Companion twice and has played in the house band for Live From Here and Late Night with Stephen Colbert. He has also played the Kennedy Center, Bonnaroo, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and Carnegie Hall.
'Chrysalis,' a track on his group's 2018 album Whorls, was nominated for a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition; the other nominees were John Williams, Alan Silvestri, Terence Blanchard, and Alexandre Desplat. He has won other awards throughout his career, some of the more notable being the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin; the Stanley Medal and Emerging Artist Award at the University of Michigan; the Detroit Music Award for Outstanding Folk Artist, Outstanding Jazz Recording and Outstanding Jazz composer; and the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship.
In 2015, Kittel co-composed the symphonic work Bull Frogs Croon with Aoife O'Donovan and Teddy Abrams, and it was performed by him and O'Donovan as soloists. In 2016, the Konzerthaus Berlin commissioned him to compose a piece for the 100th birthday of Yehudi Menuhin. The work, "A Compass in the Tempest," was premiered with violinists Daniel Hope, Roby Lakatos, L. Subramaniam, Gilles Apap, Didier Lockwood and Mark O’Connor. In 2020, alongside the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and Eric Jacobsen he premiered a newly commissioned piece, Stones River, drawing upon early American music. And in 2022, he premiered In the Dream, for Symphonic Band and solo violin, commissioned by the University of Michigan, at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, MI.
As an arranger, he has worked with Aoife O'Donovan, Zedd, Sara Watkins, Shawn Mendes, Abigail Washburn, Theo Katzman, Yo-Yo Ma, the Silk Road Ensemble, Renee Fleming, the Turtle Island Quartet, Laura Veirs, Chris Thile, My Morning Jacket, John Mayer, Jars of Clay, Camera Obscura, and more.

Discography

Solo recordings

YearAlbum
2018Whorls
2010Chasing Sparks
2005Jazz Violin
2003Roaming
2000Celtic Fiddle

Other Recordings, etc.

YearTitleMediumCredit
2024Shawn AlbumString Arranger, Violin, Viola
2024Telos AlbumString & Orchestral Arranger, Violin, Viola
2023The Way Things Used to Be AlbumFeatured soloist
2022The Bridge SingleViolin solo
2022Infinite Space AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2021Ascension AlbumViolin, Viola
2021Ultramodern AlbumViolin, Viola
2021Pin-Up Daddy AlbumViolin, Viola
2020Wendy FilmViola
2020Bull Frogs Croon AlbumProducer, Arranger, Co-composer, Performer
2020Modern Johnny Sings: Songs in the Age of Vibe AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2020Perfect Song SingleViolin, Viola
2020Joel Adams AlbumViolin, Viola
2019WWE 2K20 Video GameViolin, Viola
2019Noisy Feelings AlbumViolin, Viola
2019Borderless Lullabies AlbumViolin, Viola
2018What They Had AlbumViolin, Viola, Improvisations
2017Mother Lion AlbumViolin
2017A Series of Unfortunate Events TVViolin
2017Crack-Up AlbumViolin
2016Sing Me Home AlbumArranger, "Going Home" feat. Abigail Washburn
2016The Raven's Rock AlbumFiddle
2014Notify AlbumViolin, Viola
2013Mike Marshall and the Turtle Island Quartet AlbumViola
2013Dot the Dragon's Eyes AlbumFiddle, Viola
2013Go Down Singing AlbumViolin, Viola
2013Desire Lines AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2013Fossils AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2013Inland AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2013Warp and Weft AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2013Starcraft II: Heart of the SwarmVideo GameViolin, Viola
2012Half-Made Man AlbumViolin, Viola, Fiddle
2012Epic Mickey 2Video GameViolin, Viola
2011Circuital AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2011Send It Down AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2011Kinect: Disneyland AdventuresVideo GameViolin, Viola
2011Infamous 2Video GameViolin, Viola
2010Have You Ever Been AlbumViola, Arranger
2010City of Refuge AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2010Istiqbal Gathering AlbumViola
2008This Here AlbumViolin, Fiddle
2007No Regrets AlbumViolin
2006Fiddle Camp AlbumViolin, Fiddle
2006Gypsy Djazz AlbumViolin
2005Cinnamon Matinee AlbumViolin
2006Gypsy Djazz AlbumViolin
2005Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum AlbumViolin
2004Songs of Innocence and Experience AlbumViolin