Vijay Gupta is a violinist, speaker and citizen-artist dedicated to creating spaces of wholeness and belonging through music. Vijay’s own musical journey embodies his belief that the work of artists and citizens is one: to make a sadhana – a daily practice – of the world we envision. Hailed by The New Yorker as a “visionary violinist…one of the most radical thinkers in the unradical world of American classical music,” Vijay leads a protean career as a thought leader, performer, collaborator, curator, and communicator. 

Vijay is the founder and Artistic Director of Street Symphony, a nationally-recognized pioneer in creating spaces of connection for people in reentry from homelessness, addiction and incarceration. Since 2011 Street Symphony’s communities of artists have presented thousands of musical workshops, performances and lessons in Los Angeles shelters, clinics, county jails, state hospitals and prisons – delivering the music of classical, choral, Jazz, Reggae, Mariachi and West African drumming traditions to communities beyond the concert hall. Vijay believes that the transformation brought on by music is a “two-way symphony”: a pathway to mutual healing. “With Street Symphony”, writes Alex Ross in The New Yorker, “he has created a formidable new model for how musical institutions should engage with the world around them. "For his work in “bringing beauty, respite, and purpose to those all too often ignored by society”, Vijay was the recipient of the 2018 MacArthur Fellowship.  

Vijay has performed as an international recitalist, soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician for over 20 years, playing his solo debut at age 11 with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta. Vijay won his first orchestral audition and joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2007, when he was 19 years old - the youngest violinist to ever join a top-tier American orchestra, where he remained for 12 years. Increasingly in demand as a soloist, curator, and chamber musician, Vijay has collaborated with the artists from the Kronos Quartet to Yo-Yo Ma and folk music legend Pete Seeger, and appears regularly with the Strings Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He has also performed as a guest concertmaster with the Los Angeles Opera and the UK’s acclaimed Philharmonia Orchestra, and served as 2023 Artist in Residence at Music Worcester. Vijay is a founding member of the innovative Darshan Trio, and a member of Tesserae Baroque. He was appointed to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2024.

A riveting speaker, Vijay has shared his work with dozens of conferences, campuses,corporations and communities across America over the past 10 years, including The Richmond Forum, The Aspen Institute, Hallmark, Accenture, Mayo Clinic, US Psychiatric Congress, American Planning Association, and the League of American Orchestras. In June 2020, Vijay Gupta delivered the 33rd annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy for Americans for the Arts. His three TEDtalks have garnered millions of views, and he has been recognized as “a master of music and medicine” (The TODAY Show) and featured in TIME Magazine's “Next 100” influencers list. His first book, a memoir, will be published in early 2026. 

A dynamic recording artist, Vijay has released several albums of solo violin and chamber music, including works of Reena Esmail, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kaija Saariaho, and the complete unaccompanied Bach Sonatas. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Marist College, and a Master’s in Music from the Yale School of Music, studying primarily with Ani Kavafian and Glenn Dicterow. Vijay plays a 2010 violin made by Los Angeles-based luthier Eric Benning, and can be found on Instagram @guptaviolin.

Learn more at vijaygupta.com/.