“Tracy Silverman played as if he believed in every note and there was a whooping standing ovation.” –Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News
Lauded by the BBC as “the greatest living exponent of the electric violin”, Juilliard graduate Tracy Silverman has redefined the instrument with his instantly recognizable trademark sound. His groundbreaking work with the 6-string electric violin has forever transformed violin playing, much as Hendrix redefined the electric guitar.
Silverman has recorded with a virtual who’s who of the new music, jazz and rock world. As first violinist with the innovative Turtle Island String Quartet, Silverman toured internationally and established a long-standing relationship with Windham Hill Records. His 1999 self-produced release, Trip to the Sun has become a cult favorite which Billboard Magazine heralded as “the most adventurous Windham Hill album ever.” He has produced several albums for the label and appears on dozens of Windham Hill Collections. Silverman’s “Electric Violin Concerto” has been described by the Wichita Eagle as “the ideal piece for today’s symphony”, and has been choreographed in it’s entirety by Henrique Rodovalho in a fully mounted production with the Bale Teatro Guaira in Brazil.
Silverman has recorded and performed with John Adams, Terry Riley, Zakir Hussain, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Jim Brickman, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Guster, Big and Rich, Rachel Barton Pine, Tuck and Patty, Linda Ronstadt, Eliot Fisk, Billy Taylor, Bob Geldof, and as a soloist with major orchestras, including the Detroit Symphony conducted by Neemi Jarvi, the LA Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen, with conductors Marin Alsop, Kent Negano and many others.
An international touring artist, Tracy has performed at major concert venues from Sao Paulo to Vienna, from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl. In 1999 he was awarded Artist in Residence status by the city of Hamburg, Germany and is a frequent concert attraction in Brazil. The Rhein Zeitung wrote “technically brilliant to the fingertips, but overthrowing all the usual preconceived ideas”. The London Times raved, “His deep engagement with the music coursed through his strong, supple virtuosity.”
Silverman produced and performs on Jim Brickman’s hit CD’s “Simple Things”, “Lovesongs and Lullabies”, “Escape” and “Homecoming” and on all 3 of Jim’s popular TV Specials. His many appearances on national radio and television include NPR’s “Performance Today”, MPR’s “St. Paul Sunday”, “A Prarie Home Companion” and was featured as a violinist and record producer on “CBS News Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood”. He has taught at Macalester College in St. Paul, and at the MacPhail Center for the Arts in Minneapolis and regularly gives workshops all over the world, including the Stanford Jazz Workshop, Jazz in July at Amherst, Oberlin Conservatory and many others. Silverman has long been a favorite instructor at Mark O’Connor’s annual fiddle camp. He currently holds a teaching position at Belmont University in his home of Nashville, TN, where he teaches exclusively jazz and rock violin.
Tracy is currently touring internationally with his solo concerts, with his rock band, “Eclectica”, as a member of the Terry Riley Trio, The Gyan Riley Trio featuring Zakir Hussain, The Great Big Piano Trio with Philip Aaberg and Eugene Friesen and with the Quarteto Sao Paulo in Brazil.