Live
Mon
Apil
27
-
The Louis K. Thaler Concert Violinist Series: “When the Violin”
The Louis K. Thaler Concert Violinist Series: “When the Violin” by Vijay Gupta, violin, and Yamini Kalluri, dancer Free, open to the public
Fri
May
8
-
Residency with IRIS Collective
Violinist and social justice advocate Vijay Gupta gives his Iris debut with a personal and collaborative program that connects masterworks of the past with the music of our time. A 2018 recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Grant, Vijay Gupta is the founding artistic director of Street Symphony, a community of Los Angeles-based musicians creating performances, workshops, and new songs with neighbors recovering from addiction, homelessness and incarceration. The evening features Bach’s E Major Partita interwoven with Kurtág’s Signs, Games and Messages, a movement from Darshan by Reena Esmail, and Beethoven’s vibrant Septet in E-flat Major, performed with members of the Iris Collective.
Sunday
September
6th
-
Community Concerts at Second: Vijay Gupta, violin + Dominic Cheli, piano
Hailed by The New Yorker as a "visionary violinist…one of the most radical thinkers in the unradical world of American classical music," MacArthur Fellow Vijay Gupta was the youngest musician ever appointed to a major American orchestra when he joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the age of 19. Joined by acclaimed pianist Dominic Cheli, Gupta presents a richly varied program that spans three centuries—including Vitali's dramatic Chaconne, Korngold's enchanting selections from Much Ado About Nothing, contemporary works by Reena Esmail, and Brahms' Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108. Venue: Second Presbyterian Church, 4200 Saint Paul St, Baltimore, MD 21218 Free concert. No tickets or registration required. 7:00 p.m.: Program begins promptly 8:00 p.m.: Book signing and reception In-person attendees will receive a complimentary book. PROGRAM Tomaso Antonio Vitali (1663–1745) CHACONNE Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957) FOUR PIECES FROM MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Intermission Reena Esmail (b. 1983) POSSIBLY SURFACING Additional selection to be announced from the stage Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) VIOLIN SONATA NO. 3 IN D MINOR, OP. 108 I. Allegro II. Adagio III. Un poco presto e con sentimento IV. Presto agitato * * * Post-Concert Reception & Book Signing Join us after the concert for a complimentary reception open to all. Mr. Gupta will be signing copies from his new book, Restrung: A Memoir of Music and Transformation, which will be available for purchase from Greedy Reads.
Thursday
September
10th
-
Restrung: Vijay Gupta with Helena Hansen, MD, PhD
Restrung Vijay Gupta with Helena Hansen, MD, PhD Thursday, September 10, 2026 7:00 PM PT , Live In-Person SOLD OUT Vijay Gupta’s searing memoir, Restrung: A Memoir of Music and Transformation, the story of a gifted prodigy’s rapid rise, ambition, unraveling, and eventual renewal, illustrates how music transcends performance, becoming a source of healing, survival, and profound human connection. By age twenty-five, Vijay Gupta had lived several lifetimes: he played Carnegie Hall at eight, studied at Juilliard and Yale before most had finished high school, joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic at nineteen, gave a celebrated TED Talk seen by millions, and launched a nonprofit. But behind the accolades was estrangement, addiction, and a private unraveling. Restrung is Gupta’s unflinching memoir of breaking apart and remaking a self. It begins with a boy raised between the strict devotion of Bengali immigrant parents and the ruthless demands of the conservatory. It follows him through the shimmering world of elite orchestras, into the depths of burnout, and ultimately toward an unexpected reawakening, where he discovered that the music he’d spent his life studying was seen not as a curio of high culture or mere entertainment, but a lifeline of connection, most vividly in Skid Row, where people living through addiction, homelessness, and incarceration heard it as survival itself. There, audiences spoke to how they saw their own lives reflected in the stories of composers too often frozen into marble busts: the rage of Beethoven, the fragility of Schumann’s mind, the alienation of Bartók, the plight of Handel who wrote Messiah bankrupt, ill, and broken, yet transformed despair into an enduring Hallelujah. Restrung unsettles assumptions about success while illuminating how art restores not just audiences, but artists themselves. Bios: Vijay Gupta is an acclaimed violinist and the founding Artistic Director of Street Symphony, the nonprofit that brings live music into shelters, clinics, jails, and prisons, hailed by The New Yorker as “a formidable new model for how musical institutions should engage with the world around them.” A former member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a MacArthur Fellow, and named to TIME’s 100 Next list, Gupta has shared the role of music in human connection and responsibility on stages, campuses, and with organizations across the nation, including The Richmond Forum, the American Medical Association, the U.S. Psychiatric Congress, Harvard Business School, and companies such as Accenture and Hallmark. He lives in Altadena, California. Helena Hansen, an MD, Ph.D. psychiatrist-anthropologist, is Professor and Interim Chair of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine and Interim Director of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. She is the author of over 100 articles in leading clinical and social science journals, and of three books: Addicted to Christ: Remaking Men in Puerto Rican Pentecostal Drug Ministries; Structural Competency in Medicine and Mental Health: A Case-Based Approach to Treating the Social Determinants of Health (with Jonathan Metzl); and Whiteout: How Racial Capitalism Changed the Color of Heroin in America (with Jules Netherland and David Herzberg). She has received numerous awards, including an honorary doctorate from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and election to the National Academy of Medicine
Tuesday
September
29th
-
The Charlotte Center: Vijay Gupta
Join The Charlotte Center for Humanities and The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation for an unforgettable evening with Vijay Gupta—MacArthur Fellow, acclaimed violinist, founder of Street Symphony, and author of the memoir Restrung: A Memoir of Music and Transformation. Described by The New Yorker as "a visionary violinist and a radical thinker," Gupta has dedicated his career to exploring the extraordinary power of music to transform lives and strengthen our shared humanity. Through his work as a performer, educator, and social innovator, he invites audiences to reconsider the role of art not simply as entertainment, but as an essential force for healing, connection, and hope. The evening begins with a light reception, where guests can gather before settling in for an inspiring conversation with Vijay. Blending personal stories, insights from neuroscience, and reflections on leadership, resilience, and compassion, the conversation will explore how creativity can help us navigate uncertainty and rediscover what connects us. Throughout the program, Vijay will also share live violin performances, creating an experience that is as emotionally moving as it is intellectually engaging. Following the conversation, audience members will have the opportunity to participate in a live Q&A before meeting Vijay during a book signing. Whether you're passionate about music, leadership, mental health, social justice, or simply curious about the ways art shapes our lives, this promises to be a remarkable evening of conversation, reflection, and inspiration. Your ticket includes: Reception with light refreshments Featured presentation by Vijay Gupta Live musical performances throughout the evening Audience Q&A Book signing following the program Join us for an extraordinary evening with one of today's most compelling artists and thinkers—and discover why music has the power not only to move us, but to change the way we see one another and the world around us. Connect. Consider. Ignite. Doors open at 5:30 to mix and mingle. The program runs from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM including time for conversation, connections, and Q&A. The Forum has a three-part structure: • First third: Opening remarks, performance, and audience prompt and connection; • Middle third: Featured presentation with audience Q&A; • Final third: Audience prompt and closing. THE HUMANITIES | Languages | Literature | History | Philosophy | Religion | And More About The Charlotte Center The Charlotte Center is a community forum and civic action catalyst that invites curious people into meaningful connection and problem-solving informed by deep consideration of the human experience. Our mission is to help people and communities flourish. The Charlotte Center is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. We are supported by individual donors, grants, sponsorships, and revenue from our programs. We invite you to join us. LOCATION ImaginOn: The Joe & Joan Martin Center 300 E 7th St, Charlotte, NC 28202 Get directions
Thursday
October
1st
-
Penny Stamps Speaker Series: Vijay Gupta
Vijay Gupta is a violinist, curator, and music director who explores the human condition through music. His performing career has taken him from Carnegie Hall — where he debuted at age eight — to county jails, Skid Row shelters, and state psychiatric hospitals, finding in each the same essential questions about what music is for, and who it is for. At eleven, he made his international solo debut with the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. At nineteen, he became the youngest violinist ever to join the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he performed for eleven seasons. The Los Angeles Times has called his playing “brilliant, bold and gripping,” and Publishers Weekly praised his memoir Restrung as a “a virtuoso performance” that illustrates how music “reaches the broken places within us and the broken places between us.” A recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and honoree on the Time 100 Next list, Gupta is the founder and artistic director of Street Symphony, a nonprofit that brings live music into shelters, clinics, county jails, state hospitals, and reentry programs across Los Angeles. Over fifteen years, Street Symphony has delivered more than 3,000 performances and workshops. The New Yorker called it “a formidable new model for how musical institutions should engage with the world around them.” In addition to his work with Street Symphony, Gupta performs as a soloist and as a founding member of the Darshan Piano Trio. He holds degrees in biology and violin performance and completed graduate study at the Yale School of Music. He has addressed audiences at the Aspen Institute, Mayo Clinic, Harvard Business School, the American Medical Association, and the U.S. Psychiatric Congress, among others. Restrung, his memoir, was published by Grand Central / Da Capo in 2026. Presented in partnership with the U‑M Arts Initiative, the Michigan Arts Festival, and the Ann Arbor Symphony. Series presenting partners: Detroit PBS, ALL ARTS, and PBS Books. Media partner: Michigan Public.
Mon
Apil
27
-
The Louis K. Thaler Concert Violinist Series: “When the Violin”
The Louis K. Thaler Concert Violinist Series: “When the Violin” by Vijay Gupta, violin, and Yamini Kalluri, dancer Free, open to the public
Fri
May
8
-
Residency with IRIS Collective
Violinist and social justice advocate Vijay Gupta gives his Iris debut with a personal and collaborative program that connects masterworks of the past with the music of our time. A 2018 recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Grant, Vijay Gupta is the founding artistic director of Street Symphony, a community of Los Angeles-based musicians creating performances, workshops, and new songs with neighbors recovering from addiction, homelessness and incarceration. The evening features Bach’s E Major Partita interwoven with Kurtág’s Signs, Games and Messages, a movement from Darshan by Reena Esmail, and Beethoven’s vibrant Septet in E-flat Major, performed with members of the Iris Collective.
Sunday
September
6th
-
Community Concerts at Second: Vijay Gupta, violin + Dominic Cheli, piano
Hailed by The New Yorker as a "visionary violinist…one of the most radical thinkers in the unradical world of American classical music," MacArthur Fellow Vijay Gupta was the youngest musician ever appointed to a major American orchestra when he joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the age of 19. Joined by acclaimed pianist Dominic Cheli, Gupta presents a richly varied program that spans three centuries—including Vitali's dramatic Chaconne, Korngold's enchanting selections from Much Ado About Nothing, contemporary works by Reena Esmail, and Brahms' Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108. Venue: Second Presbyterian Church, 4200 Saint Paul St, Baltimore, MD 21218 Free concert. No tickets or registration required. 7:00 p.m.: Program begins promptly 8:00 p.m.: Book signing and reception In-person attendees will receive a complimentary book. PROGRAM Tomaso Antonio Vitali (1663–1745) CHACONNE Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957) FOUR PIECES FROM MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Intermission Reena Esmail (b. 1983) POSSIBLY SURFACING Additional selection to be announced from the stage Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) VIOLIN SONATA NO. 3 IN D MINOR, OP. 108 I. Allegro II. Adagio III. Un poco presto e con sentimento IV. Presto agitato * * * Post-Concert Reception & Book Signing Join us after the concert for a complimentary reception open to all. Mr. Gupta will be signing copies from his new book, Restrung: A Memoir of Music and Transformation, which will be available for purchase from Greedy Reads.
Tuesday
September
29th
-
The Charlotte Center: Vijay Gupta
Join The Charlotte Center for Humanities and The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation for an unforgettable evening with Vijay Gupta—MacArthur Fellow, acclaimed violinist, founder of Street Symphony, and author of the memoir Restrung: A Memoir of Music and Transformation. Described by The New Yorker as "a visionary violinist and a radical thinker," Gupta has dedicated his career to exploring the extraordinary power of music to transform lives and strengthen our shared humanity. Through his work as a performer, educator, and social innovator, he invites audiences to reconsider the role of art not simply as entertainment, but as an essential force for healing, connection, and hope. The evening begins with a light reception, where guests can gather before settling in for an inspiring conversation with Vijay. Blending personal stories, insights from neuroscience, and reflections on leadership, resilience, and compassion, the conversation will explore how creativity can help us navigate uncertainty and rediscover what connects us. Throughout the program, Vijay will also share live violin performances, creating an experience that is as emotionally moving as it is intellectually engaging. Following the conversation, audience members will have the opportunity to participate in a live Q&A before meeting Vijay during a book signing. Whether you're passionate about music, leadership, mental health, social justice, or simply curious about the ways art shapes our lives, this promises to be a remarkable evening of conversation, reflection, and inspiration. Your ticket includes: Reception with light refreshments Featured presentation by Vijay Gupta Live musical performances throughout the evening Audience Q&A Book signing following the program Join us for an extraordinary evening with one of today's most compelling artists and thinkers—and discover why music has the power not only to move us, but to change the way we see one another and the world around us. Connect. Consider. Ignite. Doors open at 5:30 to mix and mingle. The program runs from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM including time for conversation, connections, and Q&A. The Forum has a three-part structure: • First third: Opening remarks, performance, and audience prompt and connection; • Middle third: Featured presentation with audience Q&A; • Final third: Audience prompt and closing. THE HUMANITIES | Languages | Literature | History | Philosophy | Religion | And More About The Charlotte Center The Charlotte Center is a community forum and civic action catalyst that invites curious people into meaningful connection and problem-solving informed by deep consideration of the human experience. Our mission is to help people and communities flourish. The Charlotte Center is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. We are supported by individual donors, grants, sponsorships, and revenue from our programs. We invite you to join us. LOCATION ImaginOn: The Joe & Joan Martin Center 300 E 7th St, Charlotte, NC 28202 Get directions
Thursday
October
1st
-
Penny Stamps Speaker Series: Vijay Gupta
Vijay Gupta is a violinist, curator, and music director who explores the human condition through music. His performing career has taken him from Carnegie Hall — where he debuted at age eight — to county jails, Skid Row shelters, and state psychiatric hospitals, finding in each the same essential questions about what music is for, and who it is for. At eleven, he made his international solo debut with the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. At nineteen, he became the youngest violinist ever to join the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he performed for eleven seasons. The Los Angeles Times has called his playing “brilliant, bold and gripping,” and Publishers Weekly praised his memoir Restrung as a “a virtuoso performance” that illustrates how music “reaches the broken places within us and the broken places between us.” A recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and honoree on the Time 100 Next list, Gupta is the founder and artistic director of Street Symphony, a nonprofit that brings live music into shelters, clinics, county jails, state hospitals, and reentry programs across Los Angeles. Over fifteen years, Street Symphony has delivered more than 3,000 performances and workshops. The New Yorker called it “a formidable new model for how musical institutions should engage with the world around them.” In addition to his work with Street Symphony, Gupta performs as a soloist and as a founding member of the Darshan Piano Trio. He holds degrees in biology and violin performance and completed graduate study at the Yale School of Music. He has addressed audiences at the Aspen Institute, Mayo Clinic, Harvard Business School, the American Medical Association, and the U.S. Psychiatric Congress, among others. Restrung, his memoir, was published by Grand Central / Da Capo in 2026. Presented in partnership with the U‑M Arts Initiative, the Michigan Arts Festival, and the Ann Arbor Symphony. Series presenting partners: Detroit PBS, ALL ARTS, and PBS Books. Media partner: Michigan Public.
Thursday
September
10th
-
Restrung: Vijay Gupta with Helena Hansen, MD, PhD
Restrung Vijay Gupta with Helena Hansen, MD, PhD Thursday, September 10, 2026 7:00 PM PT , Live In-Person SOLD OUT Vijay Gupta’s searing memoir, Restrung: A Memoir of Music and Transformation, the story of a gifted prodigy’s rapid rise, ambition, unraveling, and eventual renewal, illustrates how music transcends performance, becoming a source of healing, survival, and profound human connection. By age twenty-five, Vijay Gupta had lived several lifetimes: he played Carnegie Hall at eight, studied at Juilliard and Yale before most had finished high school, joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic at nineteen, gave a celebrated TED Talk seen by millions, and launched a nonprofit. But behind the accolades was estrangement, addiction, and a private unraveling. Restrung is Gupta’s unflinching memoir of breaking apart and remaking a self. It begins with a boy raised between the strict devotion of Bengali immigrant parents and the ruthless demands of the conservatory. It follows him through the shimmering world of elite orchestras, into the depths of burnout, and ultimately toward an unexpected reawakening, where he discovered that the music he’d spent his life studying was seen not as a curio of high culture or mere entertainment, but a lifeline of connection, most vividly in Skid Row, where people living through addiction, homelessness, and incarceration heard it as survival itself. There, audiences spoke to how they saw their own lives reflected in the stories of composers too often frozen into marble busts: the rage of Beethoven, the fragility of Schumann’s mind, the alienation of Bartók, the plight of Handel who wrote Messiah bankrupt, ill, and broken, yet transformed despair into an enduring Hallelujah. Restrung unsettles assumptions about success while illuminating how art restores not just audiences, but artists themselves. Bios: Vijay Gupta is an acclaimed violinist and the founding Artistic Director of Street Symphony, the nonprofit that brings live music into shelters, clinics, jails, and prisons, hailed by The New Yorker as “a formidable new model for how musical institutions should engage with the world around them.” A former member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a MacArthur Fellow, and named to TIME’s 100 Next list, Gupta has shared the role of music in human connection and responsibility on stages, campuses, and with organizations across the nation, including The Richmond Forum, the American Medical Association, the U.S. Psychiatric Congress, Harvard Business School, and companies such as Accenture and Hallmark. He lives in Altadena, California. Helena Hansen, an MD, Ph.D. psychiatrist-anthropologist, is Professor and Interim Chair of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine and Interim Director of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. She is the author of over 100 articles in leading clinical and social science journals, and of three books: Addicted to Christ: Remaking Men in Puerto Rican Pentecostal Drug Ministries; Structural Competency in Medicine and Mental Health: A Case-Based Approach to Treating the Social Determinants of Health (with Jonathan Metzl); and Whiteout: How Racial Capitalism Changed the Color of Heroin in America (with Jules Netherland and David Herzberg). She has received numerous awards, including an honorary doctorate from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and election to the National Academy of Medicine
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