Johnny Gandelsman
Johnny Gandelsman 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. 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.
In 2024, he was the recipient of a MacArthur Grant.
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".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.