Ralph Evans (born 1953) is an American violinist, best known as first violinist of the Fine Arts Quartet. The son of Jewish refugees from Russia and Germany, Evans began his musical studies at the age of five at the Vienna Academy of Music. He graduated cum laude from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, where he studied violin with Broadus Erle. He subsequently received a doctorate from Yale in 1980. As recipient of a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

Award, he continued his studies in Europe with

Szymon Goldberg Szymon Goldberg (1 June 1909 – 19 July 1993) was a Polish-born Jewish classical violinist and conductor, latterly an American. Born in Włocławek, Congress Poland, Goldberg played the violin as a child growing up in Warsaw. His first teacher ...

and

Nathan Milstein Nathan Mironovich Milstein ( – December 21, 1992) was a Russian and American virtuoso violinist. Widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and for wo ...

. After winning the top prize in a number of major American competitions, including the 1978 Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York and the 1981 National Federation of Music Clubs National Young Artist Competition, he concertized as a soloist throughout North America and Europe. In 1982, Evans won a prize in the

International Tchaikovsky Competition The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of ...

in Moscow. He is briefly featured in a full-length documentary of this 1982 Competition. His performances at this Competition of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and Violin Concerto No. 2 (Bartók) were filmed. In late 1982, Evans succeeded Leonard Sorkin as first violinist of the Fine Arts Quartet, and he has toured widely with the Quartet ever since. He has recorded over 100 solo and chamber works. Evans has also received recognition for his work as a composer. His award winning composition "Nocturne" was performed on

American Public Television American Public Television (APT) is an American nonprofit organization and syndicator of programming for public television stations in the United States. It distributes public television programs nationwide for PBS member stations and indepen ...

and a recording of his "String Quartet No. 1" was released by

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

in 2008. Since 2017, he has been Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

's Mannes School of Music in New York.

Discography

Ralph Evans Discography

References

External links

Fine Arts Quartet official site

Evans interview with Jeremy Siepmann for Naxos, April 2011

Evans interview with Stephen Schafer for Naxos, October 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Ralph 1953 births American male classical violinists American people of German-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish classical violinists Living people Prize-winners of the International Tchaikovsky Competition Yale School of Music alumni 21st-century American classical violinists