Two time GRAMMY nominated violinist/composer Curtis Stewart aims to translate stories of self determination to the concert stage - tearing down the facade of “Classical Violinist,” Curtis is in constant pursuit of his musical authenticity - treating art as a battery for realizing citizenship.
As a a soloist, Curtis has been presented by Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Eastman School of Music, The Juilliard School, Carnegie Hall, and the 2022 GRAMMY Awards, among many others. He has been commissioned for solo, orchestral and chamber works by the Virginia Symphony, the Royal Conservatory of Music, the Eastman Cello Institute, La Jolla Music Society, Sybsrite5, curators of the New York Festival of Song, and Carnegie Hall: Play/USA, writing for the Knights and Anthony Roth Costanzo.
Curtis has made appearances with Tamar Kali + LA Opera, as special guest soloist/curator with Anthony Roth Costanzo and the New York Philharmonic “Bandwagon,” bouncing from performance installations at the Whitney Museum, the Guggenheim Museum, and Museum of Modern Art in NYC to MTV specials with Wyclef Jean and sold out shows at Madison Square Garden with Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, and Seal.
His award winning ensembles PUBLIQuartet (CMA Visionary award, winner Concert Artist Guild) and The Mighty Third Rail (Best Music, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Comic Book Theater Festival) realize a vision to find personal and powerful connections between styles, cultures and musics. Curtis has held chamber music residencies at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Sawdust, and made several appearances at the Newport, Detroit, Vision, NYC Winter Jazz Festivals. Curtis has worked with today's forward thinking musicians including Henry Threadgill, SilkRoad Ensemble, Jessie Montgomery, Alicia Hall-Moran and Jason Moran, Mark O’Connor, Julia Bullock, members of International Contemporary Ensemble, Billy Childs, Alarm Will Sound, Linda Oh, the JACK quartet, members of Snarky Puppy, Don Byron, Matt Wilson, among many others.
An avid teacher, Curtis teaches Chamber Music, Improvised Chamber Music and “Cultural Equity and Performance Practice” at the Juilliard School, Directs the Contemporary Chamber Music program at the Perlman Music Program, served on the Board of Concert Artist Guild, Conducted several orchestras, Opera pit, and all levels of music theory at the Laguardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts for ten years in New York City. Curtis graduated magna cum laude from the Eastman School of Music with a BA of Mathematics from the University of Rochester.
