Johnny Gandelsman

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.^[2][3] 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. ^[4]

Johnny Gandelsman
Gandelsman in 2015
Background information
Born	1978 Moscow, USSR
Genres	Classical, experimental[1]
Instrument	Violin
Member of	Brooklyn Rider

In 2024, he was the recipient of a MacArthur Grant.^[5][6]

Biography

Gandelsman was born in Moscow, in the then-USSR, to a violist father and a pianist mother.^[2][3] 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.^[3]

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".^[7]

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.^[3] 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.^[1][3]