MacArthur Fellow is a Carolina Performing Arts mainstay

Johnny Gandelsman didn’t answer the calls from the unlisted number the first few times. When he eventually picked up, the news stunned him.

The acclaimed violinist found out he was one of 22 recipients of a 2024 MacArthur Foundation $800,000 no-strings-attached fellowship, colloquially known as a “Genius Grant.”

“My reaction was total shock,” Gandelsman said. “I still don’t really understand or believe that it happened, but it’s a great honor to be part of this class.”

Gandelsman’s genius is apparent to anyone who’s ever heard him play the violin. His mastery of the instrument is especially clear in Chapel Hill, where Gandelsman has been a fixture over the last two decades.

In fact, in the 20-year history of Carolina Performing Arts, no musician has appeared on stage more often. He has performed as a solo artist, in the Silkroad Ensemble and with his string quartet Brooklyn Rider, among other collaborative projects.

The violinist created a special series for CPA’s 2024-25 season while serving as its first-ever curator-in-residence. (Johnny Andrews)

Gandelsman has been so influential that Carolina Performing Arts enlisted him as its first-ever curator-in-residence. In the role, he cultivated a special series for CPA’s 2024-25 season.

“Johnny is one of the greatest violinists of our time, and he’s also a producer, has his own record label and is a community builder,” said Alison Friedman, CPA executive and artistic director. “A project he developed during the pandemic called ‘This is America’ is an anthology comprising a wide-ranging group of musicians and composers who explore through music their experience during the lockdown, both individually and collectively. Johnny has curated a selection from that anthology that we are presenting across five performances this season, each featuring a different group of musicians from the album.”

Gandelsman performed the first of his five-part “This is America” concert series to a captivated audience at the CURRENT ArtSpace + Studio on Dec. 13. The series will resume March 3-4 and April 23-24 with ticket packages available on CPA’s website.

Each performance uses Gandelsman’s “This is America” anthology, which grew to encompass 28 compositions, as a starting point. Six of the composers commissioned for the anthology will also perform their works in Chapel Hill.

“These performances are opportunities for CPA audiences to discover or reconnect with artists who wrote for the anthology,” said Gandelsman.

The three-disc collection drew critical praise, with Pitchfork magazine writing that Gandelsman is “crystallizing a new vision for American classical music.”

Gandelsman said the project began spontaneously, with the desire to capture multiple creative perspectives during a tumultuous time in America and the world at large. Years after the pandemic, the songs have taken on new life for Gandelsman.

“When I was first getting these works, it was a lot of material to learn at once, and I was maybe seeing the trees and not the forest,” Gandelsman said. “Now coming back to them this past year, it’s interesting how audiences connect with this project. You don’t have to necessarily like every piece, but every piece is such a personal snapshot of time and place that I think people in the audience can connect to the experience.”

Gandelsman, who’s based in New Paltz, New York, is eager to perform in Chapel Hill. “It feels like home,” he said, sporting a Tar Heels T-shirt. The avid hoops fan attended his first-ever Carolina men’s basketball game before his Dec. 13 performance and is collaborating with music department students and faculty ahead of his April concerts.

“I spend so much time on the road, and it’s nice to come to a place where you’re familiar with the layout and the people,” he said.

For Chapel Hill music lovers, the feeling is mutual.