Vijay Gupta
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Robert Vijay Gupta (born 1987) is an American violinist, speaker, and forthcoming author. He is a 2018 recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Grant. (Robert) Vijay Gupta was born in 1987 and grew up in the mid-
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of
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, near
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. His parents had immigrated from
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,
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in the 1970s. At age 7 Gupta enrolled in the pre-college program at the
Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...
and age 11 he performed solo for the first time with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta. He toured internationally as a soloist and recitalist, performing across the United States, India, Europe and Japan. He enrolled in undergraduate studies at
Mount Saint Mary College Mount Saint Mary College is a private Catholic university in Newburgh, New York. It was founded in 1959 by the Dominican Sisters. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and is located roughly halfway between New York City and Albany. Roughly 1 ...
in New York at age 13, initiating coursework towards a degree in pre-medical biology. At 15, he started a 2nd undergraduate degree in
violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
performance at the
Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...
, studying under the then concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic,
Glenn Dicterow Glenn Dicterow (born December 23, 1948) is an American violinist and former concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He is on the faculty of the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music where he holds the Jasch ...
. At 17 he earned a BA from
Marist College Marist University is a private university in Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Marist was founded by the Marist Brothers, a Catholic Church, Catholic religious institute, in 1905 to prepare brothers for their ...
, in
biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...
. Gupta held neurobiology research internships at CUNY Hunter College and the Harvard Institutes of Medicine, studying spinal cord regeneration and the biochemical pathways of Parkinson's Disease. At Harvard, Gupta met Gottfried Schlaug, a researcher and musician studying the impact of music on the brain of aphasic (stroke) patients. Gupta went on to earn an M.M. in 2007 in Violin Performance from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with Ani Kavafian. Shortly after graduating from Yale, Gupta won his first orchestral audition and joined the
Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...
in 2007, when he was 19 years old - the youngest violinist to ever join a top-tier American orchestra. Gupta stumbled into advocacy for the
homeless Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...
of Los Angeles shortly after joining the LA Philharmonic. Gupta joined a group of LA Phil musicians close to
Nathaniel Ayers Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, Jr. (born January 31, 1951) is an American musician. He is the subject of numerous newspaper columns, a book, and a 2009 film adaptation based on the columns. A foundation bearing his name was started in 2008 with an aim ...
a Juilliard-trained double-bassist whose
mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...
left him homeless. Gupta met Ayers through Steve Lopez, the
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
columnist who did a series on Ayers, which became a book and movie called "
The Soloist ''The Soloist'' is a 2009 biographical drama film directed by Joe Wright, and starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. The plot is based on the true story of Nathaniel Ayers, a musician who developed schizophrenia and became homeless. Originall ...
." In 2010 Gupta founded ”Street Symphony”, a non-profit organization providing musical engagement, dialogue and teaching artistry for homeless and incarcerated communities in Los Angeles. The organization performs at jails, prisons, shelters and transitional facilities and has presented over 1500 musical performances and workshops, spanning genres of music ranging from classical, choral, jazz, mariachi, reggae and West-African drumming. Every December, the group performs
Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...
's "
Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
," with musicians from
skid row A skid row, also called skid road, is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to people who are poor or homeless, considered disre ...
joining with professional musicians to perform. The organization's performances have been highlighted by the LA Times and The New Yorker magazine amongst the most prominent and notable performances in the country. In a 2017 column for the New Yorker, music critic Alex Ross wrote of Gupta, “a visionary violinist... ndone of the most radical thinkers in the unradical world of American classical music. With Street Symphony, he has created a formidable new model for how musical institutions should engage with the world around them.” Ross calls Gupta “a riveting speaker, at once jovial and intense. He talks rapidly, precisely, and with startling candor.” In 2012 Gupta presented a "
TED Talk TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...
" entitled "Between Music and Medicine" which has received millions of views. He was featured in TIME 100 NEXT in 2019. In 2024, Gupta was inducted to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. https://www.amacad.org/news/2024-member-announcement


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gupta, Vijay 1987 births MacArthur Fellows Living people American male classical violinists American musicians of Indian descent Marist College alumni Yale University alumni 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American classical violinists