The Wallis Announces Free Live-Streamed Concert by Violinist Johnny Gandelsman

Grammy Award-winning violinist and producer Johnny Gandelsman presents his latest solo project, Bach's Complete Cello Suites on the violin, in a free Facebook Live event from his East Coast home on Thursday, March 31, 2020, 3:00 pm (PST). Gandelsman was originally slated to present the program at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts earlier in March, but his appearance was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Gandelsman's recent recording of the Complete Cello Suites Transposed for Violin, released on February 2, 2020, on In A Circle Records, reached the #2 spot on Billboard's Traditional Classical Chart. A bold artist whose performances are described as "revelatory" (The New Yorker), Gandelsman plays all six beloved Cello Suites transcribed for violin. This project follows Gandelsman's celebrated debut recording of Bach's complete Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, which reached #1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart, made it onto New York Magazine and The New York Times Best of the Year lists.

"Johnny Gandelsman brings an inventive approach and compelling depth to Bach's Cello Suites," states The Wallis' Artistic Director Paul Crewes. "Hearing these great works that are so revered in the cello repertoire on the violin's higher register is to experience them in a fresh new light. We salute Johnny for making this extraordinary program available to people everywhere via his free live-streamed event."

Gandelsman's unique musical voice integrates a wide range of creative sensibilities into a unique style that possesses "a balletic lightness of touch and a sense of whimsy and imagination" (Boston Globe). As a founding member of Brooklyn Rider and a member of the Silkroad Ensemble, Gandelsman has worked closely with such luminaries as Bela Fleck, Martin Hynes, Yo-Yo Ma, Mark Morris, Anne Sofie Van Otter, Joshua Redman and Suzanne Vega. He has appeared with Bono, David Byrne, Renee Fleming, Christian McBride and many others. A passionate advocate for new music, Gandelsman has premiered dozens of new works by such artists as Reena Esmail, Gabriela Lena Frank, Osvaldo Golijov and Nico Muhly. As a producer, his credits include Brooklyn Rider's "Spontaneous Symbols," and two albums with Silkroad Ensemble and Yo-Yo Ma: Music for "The Vietnam War," a film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick; and "Sing Me Home," which won a Grammy Award for Best World Music album.

To enjoy Gandlesman's live-streamed event, visit https://m.facebook.com/JGandelsman.