Jeremy Kittel

Last updated
Jeremy Kittel
Birth nameJeremy David Kittel
Born (1984-04-26) April 26, 1984 (age 40)
Origin Michigan, United States
Genres acoustic, Classical, Celtic, bluegrass, folk, jazz
Occupation(s)Composer, Arranger, Producer, Violinist, Fiddler, Violist, Multi-instrumentalist
Instrument(s) Violin, Fiddle, Viola, Voice, Multi-instrumentalist, Guitar, Mandolin, Piano
Years active2000-present
Website JeremyKittel.com

Jeremy Kittel is an American musician and composer. [1] [2] His primary instruments are the violin / fiddle and viola and he has worked in a number of genres including Celtic, Jazz, Pop, Classical, Bluegrass, Folk music, and more.

Contents

He leads his namesake group, Kittel & Co. [3] and has worked with many prominent artists, including Béla Fleck, Abigail Washburn, Zedd, Fleet Foxes, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile, Shawn Mendes, My Morning Jacket, Yo-Yo Ma, the Silk Road Ensemble, Paquito D’Rivera, Mark O'Connor, Turtle Island Quartet, Jon Batiste, Aoife O'Donovan, Jars of Clay, and Darol Anger.

Biography

Kittel grew up in Saline, Michigan. He attended the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance [4] for his undergraduate degree and earned his master's degree in jazz violin from the Manhattan School of Music in 2007. [1]

Jeremy Kittel has performed as a soloist with many orchestras including the Detroit Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic and Orlando Philharmonic. [1] He was a guest twice on A Prairie Home Companion and has played in the house band for Live From Here and Late Night with Stephen Colbert. He has also played the Kennedy Center, Bonnaroo, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and Carnegie Hall.

'Chrysalis,' a track on his group's 2018 album Whorls, was nominated for a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition; the other nominees were John Williams, Alan Silvestri, Terence Blanchard, and Alexandre Desplat [5] . He has won other awards throughout his career, some of the more notable being the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin; the Stanley Medal and Emerging Artist Award at the University of Michigan; [6] [7] the Detroit Music Award for Outstanding Folk Artist, Outstanding Jazz Recording and Outstanding Jazz composer [8] ; and the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship. [9]

In 2015, Kittel co-composed the symphonic work Bull Frogs Croon with Aoife O'Donovan and Teddy Abrams, and it was performed with himself and O'Donovan as soloists. In 2016, the Konzerthaus Berlin commissioned him to compose a piece for the 100th birthday of Yehudi Menuhin. The work, "A Compass in the Tempest," was premiered with violinists Daniel Hope, Roby Lakatos, L. Subramaniam, Gilles Apap, Didier Lockwood and Mark O’Connor. In 2020, alongside the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and Eric Jacobsen he premiered a newly commissioned piece, Stones River, drawing upon upon early American music [10] . And in 2022, he premiered In the Dream, for Symphonic Band and solo violin, commissioned by the University of Michigan, at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, MI [11] .

As an arranger, he has worked with Aoife O'Donovan, Zedd, Sara Watkins, Shawn Mendes, Abigail Washburn, Theo Katzman, Yo-Yo Ma, the Silk Road Ensemble, Renee Fleming, the Turtle Island Quartet, Laura Veirs, Chris Thile, My Morning Jacket, John Mayer, Jars of Clay, Camera Obscura, and more.

Discography

Solo recordings

YearAlbum
2018Whorls [Kittel & Co.]
2010Chasing Sparks
2005Jazz Violin
2003Roaming
2000Celtic Fiddle

Other Recordings, etc.

YearTitleMediumCredit
2024Shawn (Shawn Mendes)AlbumString Arranger, Violin, Viola
2024Telos (Zedd)AlbumString & Orchestral Arranger, Violin, Viola
2023The Way Things Used to Be (Zac Zinger)AlbumFeatured soloist
2022The Bridge (Jazz Mafia, Otis McDonald, Adam Theis)SingleViolin solo [recorded in 2012]
2022Infinite Space (SÍOMHA)AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2021Ascension (Antwaun Stanley and Tyler Duncan)AlbumViolin, Viola
2021Ultramodern (Ruen Brothers)AlbumViolin, Viola
2021Pin-Up Daddy (Rett Madison)AlbumViolin, Viola
2020 Wendy (Film, Searchlight Pictures)FilmViola
2020Bull Frogs Croon (and Other Songs) (Aoife O'Donovan)AlbumProducer, Arranger, Co-composer, Performer
2020Modern Johnny Sings: Songs in the Age of Vibe (Theo Katzman)AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2020Joel Adams (Joel Adams)AlbumViolin, Viola
2019WWE 2K20 (2K Games)Video GameViolin, Viola
2019Noisy Feelings (Ryan Lerman)AlbumViolin, Viola
2019Borderless Lullabies (Esperanza Spalding, Morley, others)AlbumViolin, Viola
2017Mother Lion (May Erlewine)AlbumViolin
2017A Series of Unfortunate Events (The Ersatz Elevator: Part One)TVViolin
2017 Crack-Up (Fleet Foxes)AlbumViolin
2016Sing Me Home (Yo-Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble)AlbumArranger, "Going Home" feat. Abigail Washburn
2016The Raven's Rock (Cillian Vallely)AlbumFiddle
2014Notify (Padraig Rynne)AlbumViolin, Viola
2013Mike Marshall and the Turtle Island Quartet (Turtle Island Quartet, Mike Marshall)Viola
2013Dot the Dragon's Eyes (Hanneke Cassel)AlbumFiddle, Viola
2013Go Down Singing (single, Michelle Chamuel)AlbumViolin, Viola
2013 Desire Lines (Camera Obscura)AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2013Fossils (Aoife O'Donovan)AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2013 Inland (Jars of Clay)AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2013 Warp and Weft (Laura Veirs)AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2013 Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm Video GameViolin, Viola
2012Half-Made Man (Ben Sollee)AlbumViolin, Viola, Fiddle
2012 Epic Mickey 2 Video GameViolin, Viola
2011 Circuital (My Morning Jacket)AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2011Send It Down (Kai Welch)AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2011 Kinect: Disneyland Adventures Video GameViolin, Viola
2011 Infamous 2 Video GameViolin, Viola
2010Have You Ever Been (Turtle Island Quartet)AlbumViola, Arranger
2010City of Refuge (Abigail Washburn)AlbumStrings Arranger, Violin, Viola
2010Istiqbal Gathering (John Jorgensen and Orchestra Nashville)AlbumViola (in Turtle Island Quartet)
2008This Here (Seth Bernard)AlbumViolin, Fiddle
2007No Regrets (John Nam)AlbumViolin
2006Fiddle Camp (Mark O'Connor and Guests)AlbumViolin, Fiddle
2006Gypsy Djazz (The Detroit Swingtet)AlbumViolin
2005Cinnamon Matinee (Ben Cyllus)AlbumViolin
2006Gypsy Djazz (The Detroit Swingtet)AlbumViolin
2005 Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum (Tally Hall)AlbumViolin
2004Songs of Innocence and Experience (William Bolcom)AlbumViolin

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Templeton, David (2012). "The Future is Wide Open". Strings (203): 42–46.
  2. Templeton, David (2005). "Jeremy Kittel Takes a Jazzy Turn". Strings (203): 82. Archived from the original on 2011-12-14.
  3. Cahill TISQ Honored with a Grammy Strings, 2006
  4. Northernscold, Kirstin (March 25, 2004). "Jeremy Kittel plays the fiddle". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  5. "61st Annual GRAMMY Awards | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com. Retrieved 2024-08-17.
  6. ‘‘Alumni Society Emerging Artists 2010’’ 2010
  7. ‘‘Alumni as Mentors’’ Archived 2012-05-27 at the Wayback Machine 2010
  8. "DMA Winners". Detroitmusicawards.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
  9. Anick. ‘‘Jeremy Kittel: A Scottish Fiddles Champion Jazzes It Up.’’ ‘‘Fiddler,’’ 2008.
  10. "Jeremy Kittel plays Orlando, but did visiting musicians get stuck in Siberia?". Orlando Sentinel. 2020-02-05. Retrieved 2024-08-17.
  11. Moeser, Jack (2022-09-22). "Kittel and Co. impress the crowd at The Ark". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved 2024-08-17.