Eric Stanley (born April 19, 1991) is an American internet entrepreneur, violinist, and programmer. He is the founder of Onewayhope, a media company. Stanley is the co-founder of Stay Inspired Capital, a

quantitative Quantitative may refer to: * Quantitative research, scientific investigation of quantitative properties * Quantitative analysis (disambiguation) * Quantitative verse, a metrical system in poetry * Statistics, also known as quantitative analysis ...

hedge fund. He presents

improvisational Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

violin performances found on his

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel, Estan247, which was created in 2009. In April 2015, Stanley made his national television debut on ''

ESPN First Take ''First Take'' is an American sports talk television show on ESPN. Episodes air daily Monday through Friday, with the live episode airing from 10am North American Eastern Time Zone, ET until noon, with reruns from noon to 2pm ET on ESPN2 and from ...

'' and provided the theme song on violin.

Early life

Stanley was born in Chesapeake, Virginia and comes from a family of musicians. He has an older brother named Marcus (born 1985), who is a pianist, and an older sister, Anhayla (born 1988), a singer. He attended Short Pump Middle School in Richmond, Virginia. With the encouragement of his teachers, Stanley began playing the violin at age 12. When he entered high school, Stanley joined the

Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra The Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra Program (YOP) is a program for students that introduces them into the world of the symphony. YOP is sponsored by the Richmond Symphony. History The Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra was founded in the spring ...

Career

Music

In 2009, at the age of 18, Stanley began posting videos on Internet websites

WorldStarHipHop WorldStarHipHop is a content-aggregating video blog. Zurawik, David.Worldstarhiphop.com makes a name for itself with shocking viral videos". ''The Baltimore Sun''. March 23, 2012. Retrieved on April 22, 2012Alternate link to the same article fro ...

, and PerezHilton.com. Stanley has experimented in combining improvisational violin playing with hip hop, pop, and classical. One of his first videos was a violin cover of Say Ahh by R&B artist Trey Songz. Other songs included Love the Way You Lie and

Airplanes An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad spectr ...

. During 2011 Stanley released ''The Eric Stanley Project'', a mixtape. In 2011, he became a "viral sensation" and performed as the opening act for rapper

B.o.B Bobby Ray Simmons Jr. (born November 15, 1988), known professionally as B.o.B, is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Decatur, Georgia, Simmons was signed to Jim Jonsin's Rebel Rock Entertainment imprint in 2006. Two years late ...

. In 2011, Stanley performed for President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

in Orlando, Florida. He attended

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia ...

, graduating in 2014. Following Stanley's performance on ''ESPN First Take'', he announced the release of his debut EP '' Eric Stanley''. In September 2016, he produced the soundtrack at

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning 7–9 days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general publ ...

for a presentation of the KLS collection by

Kimora Lee Simmons Kimora Lee Simmons (née Perkins) is an American model, business woman, fashion designer, venture capitalist, entrepreneur, TV personality, philanthropist and author. Early life Kimora Lee Perkins was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Stephen M. ...

Investment

In 2019, Stanley co-founded Stay inspired Capital with Daniel D. in Charleston, South Carolina. The firm uses mathematical models and

algorithms In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing ...

within the equities markets.

Philanthropy

Stanley has visited more than 200 K–12

schools A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

across the United States to "help young students stay inspired." In April 2017, he worked with

Newark Public Schools Newark Board of Education is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in the city of Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The state took over the district i ...

to raise $2,424 to purchase 20 violins for the students. On July 20, 2017, Stanley joined Usher's New Look for the ''Disruptive Innovation Summit'' in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. The non-profit organization presented the event in

SunTrust Park Truist Park (originally SunTrust Park) is a baseball stadium in the Atlanta metropolitan area, approximately 10 miles (16 km) northwest of downtown Atlanta in the unincorporated community of Cumberland, in Cobb County, Georgia. Opened in ...

. Usher's mission was "to have a creative gathering of forward thinking youth leaders."

Discography

Extended plays (EPs)

*'' Eric Stanley'' (2015)

Singles

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Eric 1991 births Living people American male violinists Hip hop violinists People from Chesapeake, Virginia Musicians from Richmond, Virginia 21st-century American violinists Virginia Commonwealth University alumni 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians