Giovanni Mazza (born May 22, 2005) is an entertainer who was discovered in the Chicago Bulls Youth Talent Search when he performed a solo violin medley in 2015 at age 9. He began playing the violin at age 3 and began acting at age 7. He has appeared as an actor on Bella and the Bulldogs and has performed solo violin at a wide range of venues including NBA All-Star Games, Major League Baseball games, 35 National Basketball Association (NBA) games at venues such as Staples Center, United Center, and Madison Square Garden and numerous other events. [1] At age 10, he performed at halftime of the Rising Stars Challenge at the 2016 NBA All-Star Game. [2]
In May 2024, Mazza made his debut on General Hospital , where he plays Giovanni Palmieri. [3]
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. He played the Soil Stradivarius, considered one of the finest violins made by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari.
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16, 1966, and played its first game during the 1966–67 NBA season. The Bulls play their home games at the United Center, an arena on Chicago's West Side.
Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama. He has conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Westchester Philharmonic. In 2015, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Perlman has won 16 Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and four Emmy Awards.
Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo was a Congolese-American professional basketball player. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Mount Mutombo" for his defensive prowess, he is commonly regarded as one of the greatest shot-blockers and defensive players of all time. Outside of basketball, he was known for his humanitarian work.
Footprint Center is a multi-purpose arena in Phoenix, Arizona. It opened under the name America West Arena on June 6, 1992, at a cost of $89 million.
Jascha Heifetz was a Russian-American violinist, widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Born in Vilnius, he was soon recognized as a child prodigy and was trained in the Russian classical violin style in St. Petersburg. Accompanying his parents to escape the violence of the Russian Revolution, he moved to the United States as a teenager, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. Fritz Kreisler, another leading violinist of the twentieth century, said after hearing Heifetz's debut, "We might as well take our fiddles and break them across our knees."
Joshua David Bell is an American violinist and conductor. He is currently music director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
BaronArthur Grumiaux was a Belgian violinist, considered by some to have been "one of the few truly great violin virtuosi of the twentieth century". He has been noted for having a "consistently beautiful tone and flawless intonation". English music critic and broadcaster, Edward Greenfield wrote of him that he was "a master virtuoso who consistently refused to make a show of his technical prowess".
Hilary Hahn is an American violinist. A three-time Grammy Award winner, she has played as a soloist with orchestras and conductors, and as a recitalist. Several composers have written works for her, including concerti by Edgar Meyer and Jennifer Higdon, partitas by Antón García Abril, two serenades for violin and orchestra by Einojuhani Rautavaara, and a violin and piano sonata by Lera Auerbach.
James Ehnes, is a Canadian concert violinist and violist.
Leila Bronia Josefowicz is an American-Canadian classical violinist.
Gil Shaham is an American violinist. His accolades include a Grammy Award in 1999, and he has performed as a soloist with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Russian National Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and the Orchestre de Paris.
Julia Fischer is a German classical violinist and pianist. She teaches at the Munich University of Music and Performing Arts and performs up to 60 times per year.
Anna Phoebe McElligott is a London-based violinist, composer, and broadcaster who performs in musical genres including contemporary classical, rock, folk, jazz, Celtic, and Middle Eastern music.
Augustin Hadelich is an Italian-German-American Grammy-winning classical violinist.
Anne Akiko Meyers is an American violinist. She has been called “the Wonder Woman of commissioning” by The Strad.
David Christian Bongartz, known by his stage name David Garrett, is a German classical and crossover violinist and recording artist.
Damien Escobar, also known as Dame Esco, is an American violinist. He was previously in the duo Nuttin' But Stringz with his brother Tourie, but has been a solo artist since 2012. His "crossover violin" musical style consists of a mix of classical, jazz, pop, R&B, and hip hop.
TwoSet Violin was a musical comedy duo consisting of Australian violinists and YouTubers Brett Yang and Eddy Chen. Yang and Chen started out posting classical covers of pop music on their YouTube channel but eventually switched focus to musical comedy videos, which gained them more viewership. Yang and Chen eventually also performed in live concerts and tours. On 14 October 2024, the duo posted that they would cease creating content as TwoSet Violin.
Leia Zhu is a British-Chinese classical violinist.