is an astonishingly versatile American violinist and composer who has had exceptional success melding various genres of music — country and bluegrass, jazz, and classical — into his own unique style and voice. This has resulted in two Grammy awards; dozens of his own albums; collaborations with a diversity of other musicians, such as , , , , , , and ; and a playing method program widely used by string students.

first took classical guitar lessons as a child and taught himself to play flamenco music before beginning fiddle lessons at age 11. Soon he was studying with , an icon of American fiddling. In his late teens, next became a student of jazz violinist , touring with him as well. then worked with and his and with of the . Between 1975 and 1982, won competitions as a guitarist, fiddler, and mandolinist. He moved to Nashville in 1983, becoming a session player for many country stars, such as the , , and . , , , , and formed the band in 1986, which played some of 's own pieces. His first Grammy award came in 1991 for his album . His music became increasingly sophisticated, utilizing elements of folk, classical, jazz, and world music — what he calls the "four pillars of string playing," while he absorbed more technical knowledge from artists like , , , and .

His first album on Sony Classical, Appalachia Waltz (1996), with cellist and bassist , impressed classical critics with its originality and attractiveness and became a huge crossover hit. The trio's next album, Appalachian Journey (2000), won his second Grammy award. His Fiddle Concerto, composed in 1993, has been performed around the world hundreds of times. By 2010, he had written another six concertos and the Americana Symphony, recorded by and the . He recorded his String Quartets No. 2 "Bluegrass" and No. 3 "Old-Time" in 2009 with , , and . That same year saw the publication of the first book of his string teaching method. The , , the — for whom he wrote Poets and Prophets, inspired by the music of — and film director are among those who have commissioned new music from . The 2001 release, Hot Swing!, with and , was a tribute to ; the same released in 2005. had , , and among his guests for (2011), which also became an annual touring show. In 2015, and his wife released their first album together, In late 2015, introduced , a contemporary bluegrass project in which he was joined by wife , son , and daughter-in-law . The group released its debut album, , in August 2016.

Mark O' Connor

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