about

Violinist Gabriel Bolkosky has been praised for the way he “takes audiences into his confidence and includes them” and described as having “the serenity of a master without a hint of coldness.”

He is executive director of The Phoenix Ensemble, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based nonprofit arts organization dedicated to helping artists and the educational community. His debut solo album, This and That, features both jazz and classical music. Other recordings include explorations of klezmer with Into the Freylakh (The Shape of Klez to Come), of the nuevo tango music of Astor Piazzolla (The Oblivion Project Live), of children’s folk music with the children’s-music group Gemini (The Orchestra Is Here to Play), and the contemporary music of composers such as Xenakis and Boulez with his former group Non Sequitur (Non Sequitur). His most recent recording is a duo album, Home From Work, featuring jazz standards with guitarist and singer Sandor Slomovits.
In May 2008, Bolkosky made his debut at Carnegie Hall with Opus 21. Since 2008, as first violinist of the Phoenix String Quartet, he has been guest artist in residence at the University of Michigan and currently teaches violin there.

Bolkosky is a sought-after guest artist, performer, and teacher at schools and workshops across North America and worldwide. In Ann Arbor, he directs one of The Phoenix Ensemble’s signature events, PhoenixPhest!, an annual amateur chamber-music festival held each May, and maintains a private violin studio.