Heather Bixler
New York, NYHeather

Heather Martin Bixler is a classical violinist and Irish fiddler whose playing has been described by critics as "emotionally riveting" and "astonishingly musical and sweet".  A graduate of Indiana University and The Juilliard School, she has performed in many major concert halls, such as Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, and Musikverein in Vienna. As a recording artist Bixler was a featured soloist on the Grammy nominated CD Forty Acres and a Burro (Zoho Music, 2011).  She also can be heard on Auction Project also on the Zoho Record label which merges traditional  Irish tunes with jazz. This recording has been praised in the press for its innovation and excellence in its emotional content and technical display.  Auction Project was awarded four stars in Downbeat Magazine in January 2011, and was chosen as Best Fusion CD of 2010 in the Irish Echo.  Alex Henderson wrote in ALLMUSIC that "...this is an intriguing effort that lovers of experimental world jazz shouldn't overlook."

In 1992 Bixler won a first violin position in the Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona in Spain and since then has held concertmaster positions with South Dakota Symphony and Orquesta Sinfonica de la Mineria in Mexico City and Garden State Philharmonic in New Jersey.  In New York she has worked as a substitute violinist with orchestras including The New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, American Symphony and many Broadway show orchestras. In addition, she has appeared on such singers’ videos as Maria Carey, Shania Twain, Jewel, and Donna Summer, including an appearance on the Rosie O'Donnell Show with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
 
As an Irish musician, Bixler won the bronze medal for the senior slow airs at the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil in Donegal, Ireland in 2006.  She is also in demand as a performer and teacher of  Irish music at various festivals throughout the United States, Canada, and Ireland. Bixler performs regularly with musicians such as Ciaran Sheehan, Gabriel Donohue, Brendan Dolan, Donie Carroll and Jimmy Crowley, as well as being the guest on several prominent Irish musicians’ solo recordings. 

Bixler has recorded and performed with Grammy award winner Arturo O’Farrill and his Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra with which she soloed at Symphony Space in New York.  As an arranger, she received attention from political song writer Tommy Sands for her combination of Protestant hymns and traditional Irish tunes. Her interview by him on Downtown Radio in Belfast discussed the political statements made by these compositions. Bixler also created an unusual combination of  Irish music accompanied by symphony orchestra, which she performed as guest soloist with Garden State Philharmonic in Toms River, NJ, Chelsea Symphony in New York City, and South Dakota Symphony in Sioux Falls, SD. The Irish Concerto imitates the form of Vivaldi’s “Spring” from the Four Seasons with three movements and a classical symphonic accompaniment.

Bixler is currently a Doctoral candidate in violin performance at the University of Memphis. She is married to jazz saxophonist David Bixler, and they have four children.

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