TRACY SILVERMAN
Tracy Silverman has contributed significantly to the repertoire and development of the 6-string electric violin and what he calls “post-classical violin playing.” Formerly first violinist with the innovative Turtle Island String Quartet, Silverman was named one of 100 distinguished alumni by The Juilliard School. A true eclectic, Silverman’s compositions and performances have been recorded by Nonesuch Records, Naxos Records, Windham Hill Records, along with many distinguished performances. A long-standing advocate for music education, Silverman is the author of The Strum Bowing Method, is an in-demand clinician and on the string faculty at Belmont University in Nashville, TN.

JOE DENINZON
Joe Deninzon has been hailed by critics as “The Jimi Hendrix of the Violin,” because of his innovative style on 7-string electric violin. Joe has worked with Bruce Springsteen, The Who, 50 Cent, Sheryl Crow, Phoebe Snow, Ritchie Blackmore, Smokey Robinson, Les Paul, Peter Criss from KISS, Kurt Elling, and the New York City Ballet. Joe is the lead singer and violinist for the progressive rock band, Stratospheerius, who have released 6 critically acclaimed albums. He can be heard on over 100 CDs and jingles as a violinist and string arranger.

GREG BYERS
Greg has overcome countless obstacles in order to become an idiosyncratic performer, composer, educator, and producer. A talented cellist, but frustrated with the lack of expression found in traditional settings Greg explored his unique voice in cello and jazz. Greg is the first person to graduate from the Frost School of Music with a double major in Instrumental Performance/Studio Music & Jazz on cello and bass, Summa Cum Laude. Since 2015 he has performed on BBC Two, Univision (Latin GRAMMYs); been a featured artist/clinician at New Directions Cello Festival, Creative Strings Workshop, and Eclectic Strings Day.

BROOKE ALFORD
Brooke Alford, The Artist of the Violin is a Smooth Jazz International Recording Artist. A North Carolina native raised in Marietta, GA, Brooke studied under the prestigious Florida State University College of Music in Tallahassee, FL with The Late Beth Newdome and in London, England with Eric Chapman of The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Shortly after completing her studies at FSU and earning a BM in Violin Performance, Brooke established herself as an Independent Contemporary Artist. In 2013, she moved to New York City to complete her second CD “The Viosocalist” with independent record label, Platinum Crown Music and to continue advancing her professional solo career. In 2017, Brooke re-established her home base in Atlanta GA. To date, Brooke has released a total of 4 CDs: Expressions, The Viosocalist, Closer Remixes, and My Christmas (2007 – 2018). Brooke is currently working on her 5th CD, with an anticipated 2022 release.

CHUCK BONTRAGER
Chuck Bontrager is the very definition of the the versatile 21st-century musician: classically trained, yet experienced in multiple performance styles. Chuck is an exceptional performer on several variations of his instrument (viola, violin, baritone viola (chin-cello), mandolin and mandola, and especially his 7-string Viper electric violin). Chuck is a frequent performer on the Broadway Series in Chicago and served as Concertmaster for the Chicago production of Hamilton.

DAVID WALLACE
A composer, Texas-style fiddler, and musician fluent in rock, classical, jazz, and more, Doc Wallace chairs Berklee College of Music’s String Department. Previously, he enjoyed fourteen years as Juilliard professor, and seventeen years as New York Philharmonic Teaching Artist. David’s Texas-style string band, The Doc Wallace Trio, recently released Live at the Cornelia Street Café. His classical flute-viola-harp trio Hat Trick received a 2018 Grammy nod as their debut record, Garden of Joys and Sorrows, was one of nine records earning David Frost a Producer of the Year, Classical Grammy. David Wallace also plays viola in the klezmer / world-fusion jam band, Yale Strom’s Broken Consort, which released Shimmering Lights in 2018.

THE MARK WOOD EXPERIENCE
Recording artist, performer, producer, inventor, Emmy award-winning composer and music education advocate MARK WOOD has spent the past four decades electrifying the orchestra industry – literally. Dubbed ‘The Les Paul and Jimi Hendrix of The Violin World’ by PBS, Wood is the premier electric violinist of his generation who pioneered the entire genre. Wood rose to fame as string master and original member of the internationally acclaimed Trans-Siberian Orchestra, selling over 10 million albums. LAURA KAYE has a lyricism and musicality all her own, and is a rock and roll chanteuse whose take-no-prisoners voice invokes the likes of Steven Tyler and Aretha Franklin. Laura has worked with legendary musicians such as James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Lenny Kravitz and Sean Lennon and her voice has been featured on countless television shows and advertisements. In addition to her solo work, Laura is the featured vocalist on many of Mark’s recordings. The true passion of this power couple is music education. Their groundbreaking music education program Electrify Your Symphony (EYS) celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2020. EYS is an immersive rock and roll workshop and concert series for school music departments that boosts student self-esteem and helps raise much-needed funds.

MIA ASANO
Mia Asano is an electric violinist from Denver, Colorado. Classically trained from the age of five, she developed a love for alternative styles of music early on and plays a variety of music styles including rock, pop, jazz, classical, bluegrass and celtic music. After graduating from the Denver School of the Arts she went on to attend the Berklee College of Music as a dual major in Performance and Professional Music. During her junior year, she began posting short videos on TikTok and Instagram to practice her recording/mixing and video editing skills. One of the early videos went viral, gaining 10 million collective views in less than a week on multiple social media platforms and resulting in over half a million followers on TikTok. Since then, she has had success with other videos as well, including an arrangement of Nathan Evans’ Wellerman Sea Shanty which gained Global recognition on networks such as the BBC, NBC, Washington post, and more.

A selection of videos from our amazing attendees.