The Violin Doctor

Abraham is an, award-winning, African American violin soloist, composer, teacher, and lecturer. He completed both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Violin Performance with highest honors, and was the featured commencement soloist for his Master’s degree at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He graduated summa cm laude again with his Doctorate in Violin Performance from the University of Arizona, where he served simultaneously as Concertmaster of the Arizona Symphony Orchestra and Arizona Contemporary Ensemble (ACE), and won the institution’s annual concerto competition with the Brahms Violin Concerto, in which he premiered his original cadenzas. Dr. Abraham also holds certificates for exceptional service as a Distinguished Clinician from the Cochise Music Teacher’s Association, as an online education specialist from the Royal Conservatory of Music, and even as a Yoga Teacher from the Yoga Renew School in California. Most recently, Dr. Abraham served as the Concertmaster for the NEWorks Philharmonic Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. for the premiere of "An African American Requiem" — a twenty movement symphonic mass by Damien Geter. Other programs and organizations recently featuring Dr. Abraham include the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Masterclass Lecture at the Menuhin-Dowling Program, Southwest Strings, SHAR Music, American String Teacher’s Association (ASTA), Tucson Film Festival, String Masters, Key To Change, SHAR Music, Fiddlershop, Community School of Music & Arts, The Entertainer magazine, Mind Over Finger podcast with Dr. Renée-Paule Gauthier, Violin Podcast with Eric Mrugala, Lovin’ Life in Tucson newspaper, Arizona Jewish Post newspaper, and the Arizona Daily Star newspaper, the Conn-Selmer “Music Professor” violin series, and much more. Dr. Abraham has had live audiences across seven countries, and is best-known for his versatility and creativity as a performer and composer. His compositional highlights include his popular “24 Caprices for Solo Violin” used in auditions and concerts around the world, and "The Gilgamesh Quartet" premiered at the University of Michigan. He is also the author of “J.S. Bach’s Chaconne: A Performer-Composer's Approach to Interpretation". He is also the founder and director of The Violin Guild, hosting over 54,000 bowed-string players, and proud Artistic Ambassador for Southwest Strings, D'Addario Orchestral, WMutes, and Ovation Press. Dr. Abraham is also a masterfully-proficient cadenza writer, gypsy-style improviser, kirtankar, and fiddler. He is a lifelong vegetarian, proud feminist, proactive environmentalist, and passionate advocate for world kinship through the arts.

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Social media: on: Facebook, Instagram and String Masters

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Masterclass Lectures:
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• Playing Green (40min): physically sustainable, low-tension, and efficient playing

• Left-Hand Pizz (35min): less grip, more release, "back and across" method

• The Vibrato Matrix (30min): hand and wrist vibrato are always simultaneous, but balance differently depending on our physical and musical direction.

• The 24 Caprices (1hr): styles, genres, and techniques in the 10-year compilation of my original encores, "24 Caprices for Solo Violin" ©2020