Instagram Facebook Twitter

Johnny Gandelsman, solo violin

solo violin

Sunday Concert

Livestream with Ticket Reservation

Online / Members

(In person tickets sold-out)

Buy a Virtual Ticket

$15 for virtual tickets | $10 for members

 

Become a Member
Photo of violinist Johnny Gandelsman

J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007

Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011

Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012

Grammy award-winning violinist Johnny Gandelsman, a founding member of the renowned chamber music group Brooklyn Rider, brings his exploration of J.S. Bach’s cello suites for his debut concert at The Phillips Collection. Far exceeding a simple note-to-note transcription, Gandelsman dives deeply into underlying currents of dance music and folk-like rhythms.

He celebrates discovery, improvisation, and ingenuity, reinvigorating these mainstays of the repertoire with a fresh perspective and novel approach.

Gandelsman will perform Suites no. 1 in G Major, No. 5 in C Minor and No. 6 in D Major, in a performance that will last approximately one hour.

IN PERSON AUDIENCES: KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
  • Concert guests 12 years of age and over must show proof of vaccination or a same-day negative COVID-19 test.
  • Concert guests over the age of two must wear a face mask covering their nose and mouth at all times, regardless of their vaccination status.
  • The Music Room is now able to operate at 1/2 capacity. However, given the intimate nature of the setting, we can no longer follow strict social distancing guidelines. All in-person guests may be seated next to, in front of, or behind other vaccinated and masked concert guests.

Grammy award-winning violinist and producer Johnny Gandelsman's musical voice reflects the artistic collaborations he has been a part of since moving to the United States in 1995. Richard Brody of The New Yorker has called Johnny Gandelsman “revelatory” in concert, placing him in the company of “radically transformative” performers like Maurizio Pollini, Peter Serkin and Christian Zacharias.

As a founding member of Brooklyn Rider and a member of the Silkroad Ensemble, Johnny has closely worked with such luminaries as Bela Fleck, Martin Hayes, Kayhan Kalhor, Yo-Yo Ma, Mark Morris, Anne Sofie von Otter, Alim Qasimov & Fargana Qasimova, Joshua Redman, Suzanne Vega, Abigail Washburn and Damian Woetzel. He has appeared with Bono, David Byrne, Renee Fleming, Rhiannon Giddens, I'm With Her, Christian McBride, and many others.

Gandelsman integrates a wide range of creative sensibilities into a unique style amongst today's violinists, one that according to the Boston Globe, possesses "a balletic lightness of touch and a sense of whimsy and imagination".  Johnny's recording of the complete Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, which reached #1 on the Billboard Classical Chart, and made it onto NY Magazine and NY Times Best of the Year lists, was described by the Boston Globe as "...sparklingly personal Bach, shorn of grandeur, lofted by a spirit of dance, and as predictable as the flight of a swallow."

A passionate advocate for new music, Johnny has premiered dozens of new works, including music by Lisa Bielawa, Tyondai Braxton, Daniel Cords, Christina Courtin, Reena Esmail, Bela Fleck, Gabriela Lena Frank, Bill Frisell, Osvaldo Golijov, Gonzalo Grau, Ethan Iverson, Vijay Iyer, Colin Jacobsen, Gabriel Kahane, Rubin Kodheli, Angel Lam, Ljova, Dana Lyn, Nico Muhly, Padma Newsome, Shara Nova, Edward Perez, Matana Roberts, Kyle Sanna, Gregory Saunier, Caroline Shaw, Kojiro Umezaki, Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky, Du Yun, Evan Ziporyn and John Zorn.

Johnny has been producing records since starting his label, In a Circle Records in 2008. Recent credits include Ken Burns & Lynn Novick's PBS documentary film "Hemingway", Silkroad Ensemble's "Falling out of Time", Brooklyn Rider's Grammy-nominated "Healing Modes" & “Spontaneous Symbols” (In a Circle Records); Magos Herrera & Brooklyn Rider's "Dreamers" (Sony); Johnny's own recording of JS Bach's complete Cello Suites & complete Sonatas and Partitas for violin (In a Circle Records) and 2 albums with Silkroad Ensemble and Yo-Yo Ma:  “The Vietnam War”, documentary film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick; and Silkroad Ensemble & Yo-Yo Ma's “Sing Me Home”, a Grammy-award winner for Best World Music album (Sony)

Johnny was born in Moscow into a family of musicians. His father Yuri is a world-renowned violist, his mother Janna is a pianist, and his sister Natasha is a violinist as well. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Amber Star Merkens, and their two kids, Julius Ivry and Raiya Leone.

Watch & Listen