Page 17 - Phil 2024-2025 opening night digital program

Melissa White

American violinist Melissa White has enchant- prestigious ven-
ed audiences and critics around the world. ues, including
Her rapid rise as a soloist has captured the Carnegie Hall, the
attention of orchestras and audiences world- White House, and
wide, many of whom already know her for her the Kennedy Cen-
successes as a founding member of the Gram- ter; and toured
my-winning Harlem Quartet. throughout the
U.S., as well as in Europe, Africa, Japan, and
Orchestral highlights of the 2024-25 season the United Kingdom. Harlem Quartet has col-
include performances with the Baton Rouge, laborated closely with leading jazz musicians
Delaware, Hilton Head, Jackson, Rogue Valley, including Chick Corea and Gary Burton with
and Springfield Symphony Orchestras, Orches- whom their recording, “Mozart Goes Danc-
tra Iowa, and the Cape Town Philharmonic. In ing” won three Grammy Awards, including the
addition to her role as the Joyce C. Willis Artist Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition
in Residence at the Hartford Symphony last in 2013. Harlem Quartet was named quar-
season, other recent orchestral performances tet-in-residence at Montclair State University
for Ms. White include features with the Phila- in the fall of 2021, and has served as the visit-
delphia Orchestra (with Yannick Nézet-Séguin ing quartet-in-residence at the Royal College
conducting), the Buffalo Philharmonic, the of Music in London since 2016. In 2024, Harlem
Chicago and Northwest Sinfoniettas, and the Quartet took home a Grammy for Best Clas-
Charlotte, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Rich- sical Compendium for their work on “Passion
mond Symphony, West Virginia Symphony Or- for Bach and Coltrane,” with Imani Winds, A.B.
chestras, and the Aspen, Brevard, Chautauqua, Spellman, and jazz trio Alex Brown, Edward Pe-
and Heartland Festival Orchestras. rez, and Neal Smith.

A first-prize laureate in the Sphinx Compe- A passionate educator, Ms. White current-
tition, she has performed with such leading ly serves as Music Artist Faculty at New York
U.S. ensembles as the Cleveland Orchestra, University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Edu-
the Boston Pops, the Louisville Orchestra, and cation, and Human Development. In the fall of
the Atlanta, Baltimore, Colorado, Detroit, and 2022, she also joined the Music Faculty at the
Pittsburgh symphony orchestras. Internation- University of Buffalo as Professor of Music.
ally, she has appeared as soloist with Poland’s
Filharmonia Dolnoslaska; with the Colombi- Born and raised in Lansing, Michigan, she re-
an Youth Orchestra in a tour of that country; ceived her BMus from The Curtis Institute of
with the Czech National Philharmonic; and Music and MMus from New England Con-
as a recitalist in Baku, Azerbaijian, and Jelenia servatory, where her teachers included Jaime
Gora, Poland. Her film credits include a violin Laredo, Ida Kavafian, Donald Weilerstein, and
solo in the soundtrack to Jordan Peele’s 2019 Miriam Fried. Melissa White is incredibly grate-
psychological thriller Us; and, in addition to ful to be playing a c1780 Ferdinando Gagliano
her numerous classical performances, she has violin, currently on loan from Strumenti.
also performed alongside several pop artists
including Pharrell, Bruno Mars, Alicia Keys, and
Lauryn Hill.
Ms. White is a founding member of New York-
based Harlem Quartet. With the quartet she
has appeared in many of the country’s most

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