Violinist Nora Germain to Perform at Dizzy’s
23-year-old jazz violinist and singer, Nora Germain will perform from her latest album “Little Dipper” at 8 p.m., Friday, January 30 at Dizzy’s in San Diego, located at 4275 Mission Ban Drive in San Diego. Joining her are Ed Kornhauser on piano, Will Pierce on bass and Ryan Shaw on drums.
Nora Francesca Germain is the first ever violinist to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Jazz Studies from the renowned USC Thornton School of Music. During her studies, she participated in the jazz, pop, classical and guitar programs simultaneously. An alumna of Idyllwild Arts Academy, the exemplary boarding arts high school in southern California, Germain was given the “Inspirational Jazz Student” Award at the age of 17 by her mentor and fellow collaborator Marshall Hawkins, former bassist for Miles Davis and Shirley Horn. She was also the first jazz violin graduate of Idyllwild Arts Academy.
Germain was introduced to the violin in a rare, fortunate context at age 2 by her parents and grandmother who were all strings players (two were violinists, one a cellist) in the Madison Symphony. Her mother later became a violin teacher and co-founded the Suzuki Strings of Madison classical violin school in the early 1990s, Nora being among the first class of students. Her father later became a violin luthier and restorer. At age 10, she was already performing and improvising with bands and venturing outside of her classical training. During the 1990s and early 2000s, she performed a year-round schedule of children’s violin showcases and concerts with Suzuki Strings of Madison and attended masterclasses by such artists as Mark O’Connor and Hilary Hahn.
She has appeared live at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards with Sam Smith performing “Stay With Me” with a string quartet as first violinist. She also has performed several times as a featured soloist with the Seahawk Modern Jazz Orchestra (led by Marshall Hawkins) and has also collaborated with The Manhattan Transfer and American Idol Season 10 finalist Casey Abrams. She has performed with virtuoso jazz artists Gilbert Castellanos, as well as internationally acclaimed composer, arranger and saxophonist John Altman.
Nora German has released three of her own albums. Photo by M.K.Sadler.
In addition to her live performances, Germain has worked on numerous independent films, student films, and Hallmark and Pixel Channel movies both on camera or in the recording studio. By age 22, she produced and released three of her own albums, “Let It Rip!” in 2013, and “Generation Gap” and “Little Dipper” in 2014, the latest featuring Germain singing as well as playing her own compositions. While studying at USC, she also performed with The USC Thornton Gala Orchestra and accompanied Kristin Chenoweth, Glenn Frey of The Eagles and Barry Manilow.
To learn more about Nora Germain, visit noragermain.com.
Category: Entertainment, Music
