“One of the most radical thinkers in the unradical world of American classical music.” - Alex Ross, The New Yorker
Vijay Gupta is a violinist, speaker and author, leading a protean career as a performer, curator and thought leader.
As the founding artistic director of Street Symphony, Vijay is a nationally celebrated leader in how music can be a transformative force for humanity, connection and hope.
From prisons, county jails and LA’s Skid Row to concert halls, campuses, and companies across the world, Vijay’s work is the embodiment of the generous, generative power of music to heal the world - and ourselves.
Vijay’s first book, Restrung: A Memoir of Music and Transformation, will be available next June, published by Grand Central Publishing.
Vijay Gupta is a violinist, speaker, and writer dedicated to the power of music as a force for human connection and social transformation. Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “bold, gripping, brilliant”, Vijay is equally at home on the concert stage, in community spaces, and behind the podium as an advocate for the arts as force for healing, belonging, and wholeness.
A 2018 recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, Vijay is the founder and Artistic Director of Street Symphony, a nonprofit organization bringing music to Skid Row and to communities across Los Angeles impacted by homelessness and incarceration. Since its founding in 2011, Street Symphony has presented more than 1,500 free performances, workshops, and collaborations in shelters, jails, transitional housing facilities, and recovery programs, with musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, LA Master Chorale, and across the city’s musical spectrum.
Vijay made his solo debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta at age 11 and entered the pre-college program at Juilliard at 7. He studied violin with Glenn Dicterow, longtime concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, and earned his master’s degree in violin performance from the Yale School of Music. At 19 he became the youngest-ever violinist to join the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His performances have taken him across the United States, Europe, Japan, and India, and he is a regular chamber musician and soloist with ensembles across the country.
As an innovative curator and collaborator, Vijay is a founding member of the Darshan Piano Trio with pianist Dominic Cheli and cellist Yoshika Masuda, praised for performances that weave music, storytelling, and cultural connection. His wide-ranging collaborations also include projects with choreographer and dancer Yamini Kalluri, exploring intersections between Bach and South Indian classical dance. He is an advocate of early music and new music, equally at ease in the works of Jacquet de la Guerre and Kaija Saariaho. He has commissioned and premiered several works by living composers. In Spring 2026, he will appear as a soloist with the Spartanburg Philharmonic in the luminous concerto by Samuel Barber.
As a speaker, Vijay has addressed audiences at dozens of conferences, campuses, corporations, and communities across the United States. His keynote engagements include The Richmond Forum, The Aspen Institute, the American Medical Association, Hallmark, Accenture, Mayo Clinic, the U.S. Psychiatric Congress, the American Planning Association, the League of American Orchestras, and gatherings of leaders from major Fortune 50 companies. In June 2020, he delivered the 33rd annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy for Americans for the Arts. His three TED Talks have received millions of views worldwide.
Vijay is a 2024 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, joining leaders from across disciplines who are recognized for their contributions to public life.
He is represented as a speaker by The Lavin Agency and as a performer by Visconti Arts. Vijay performs on a 2010 violin made by Los Angeles-based luthier Eric Benning, as well as an 18th-century Baroque violin from Tyrol.