Mark Fewer
In a career now spanning more than three decades, Mark Fewer has been an interpreter of music past and present in virtually every genre and setting in which you will find a violin. From appearances at famed concert halls such as Carnegie, Wigmore, and Salle Pleyel to venues such as Bartók House (Budapest), the Forum (Taipei), and Le Poisson Rouge (NYC), Fewer has appeared as featured guest soloist with ensembles ranging from the Zapp Quartet of Amsterdam and the Fodens‑Richardson Brass Band (UK) to the Chieftains, Stevie Wonder and his band, and the major symphonies of Toronto, San Francisco, Melbourne, and more.
He has premiered over 200 works, with more than 50 written specifically for him. Canadian jazz icon Phil Dwyer composed his Juno‑winning work Changing Seasons for Fewer, citing his “seemingly clairvoyant skills at interpretation.” When giving the Canadian premiere of John Adams’ The Dharma at Big Sur for 6‑string electric violin and orchestra, The Globe and Mail described his performance as “intrepid.”
His extensive and distinctive discography includes appearances on multiple Juno‑winning recordings, one Grammy‑winning recording, a Prix Opus, and, most recently, an ECMA for Best Instrumental Recording of the Year for his album Alikeness.
He has held the positions of Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony, Artist‑in‑Residence at Stanford University, William Dawson Scholar at McGill University, and Artist‑in‑Residence at the Glamorgan Festival in Wales. As a chamber musician, he was a founding member of the Duke Piano Trio, violinist with the SuperNova and St. Lawrence String Quartets, and an original member of the ARC Ensemble. He is currently first violinist of the Axelrod String Quartet at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, where the group performs and records exclusively on Stradivari and Amati instruments from the museum’s famed collection. He is also a jazz violinist, having shared the stage with Dave Young, Brad Turner, Jodi Proznick, Jim Doxas, Jan Jarczyk, Pekka Kuusisto, Suba Sankaran, Aaron Davis, and many more.
Mr. Fewer was the founding Artistic Director of the SweetWater Music Festival and is now in his eighth season in the same role at Stratford Summer Music. This past year, he was named to CBC’s In Concert Hall of Fame, which celebrates Canada’s greatest classical musicians of all time. He is an Associate Professor of Violin at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, and is honoured to be a Senior Fellow at Massey College.
