Bio
Avery Fisher Career Grant-winning violinist and composer TIM FAIN has earned a reputation as a mesmerizing creator and performer appearing on today’s greatest stages, and is now coming into his own as a composer with an authentic voice, pushing the envelope with cutting-edge technology. He has been recognized for his original compositions for a vast array of projects in film/TV, VR, concert music, theater, and extended media, and performances on soundtracks for award-winning feature films.
Seen on-screen and heard in the Grammy-nominated soundtrack to Black Swan, and known for his performances in the soundtracks to Oscar-winning films 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight, Fain’s violin playing is also prominently featured in Glass, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Don’t Look Up, Indignation, and HBO’s Succession (where he also makes a cameo appearance).
Increasingly acknowledged for his original film music, Fain composed the score for feature film Munch (Best Nordic Film nominee, Göteborg Film Festival), stop-motion film Los Huesos (Best Short, Venice Film Festival), the films nothing, except everything, Untouchable: Children of God, and for media created for The North Face and Ralph Lauren.
In the concert music world, Fain’s violin concerto Edge of a Dream was premiered by the Amarillo Symphony (cond. Jacomo Bairos), with recent and upcoming performances scheduled with the Buffalo Philharmonic (cond. Otto Tausk) and the Maryland, Anchorage, Helena, San Juan, and Missoula Symphonies. His work Resonance, commissioned by Google/YouTube for a groundbreaking VR video, was recorded by The Knights/Eric Jacobsen, subsequently shown at The Sundance Film Festival. Other notable violin/orchestral compositions include Glacial, inspired by Antarctica’s melting Thwaites Glacier and used in a Sierra Club Earth Day campaign; and Freedom, created for Made in a Free World. Unraveling, for 17 looped violins, will be released on an upcoming studio album.
Fain continues to be at the forefront of technology, working on boundary-pushing projects and VR experiences, including Metamorphic at Sundance Film Festival; The Interpretation of Dreams for Samsung at TriBeCa Film Festival, Together as One for Facebook/Oculus, Flock for The Future of Storytelling in NYC, and Light, co-composed with the band MAE and commissioned by Forbes and the city of Jerusalem as one of the first VR experiences synced with live music, also featured at SXSW. Fain’s LED light installation with Symmetry Labs was featured on BBC and PBS, and he gave a TEDx talk on emerging technologies in music. As Director of Music at Studio Elsewhere, Fain also helps create bio-experiential environments for healthcare. His highly successful evening-length multimedia show Portals features a Philip Glass work written for Fain, and involved collaborations with Leonard Cohen, Nicholas Britell, Benjamin Millepied, Kate Hackett, Nico Muhly, and Fred Child.
Whether touring the world in a duo with Philip Glass, performing solo with the National Orchestra of Spain, San Francisco Symphony, or American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, or collaborating with artists ranging from Mitsuko Uchida to composer Meredith Monk, jazz pianist Billy Childs, Bryce Dessner, DJ Spooky, Iggy Pop, Rob Thomas (Matchbox Twenty), James Blake, or Christina Aguilera, Fain electrifies audiences. His wildly diverse career has taken him to unique spaces all across the globe, including on-stage at the NYC Ballet, The Vatican, and a performance for the Dalai Lama’s 80th Birthday.
A native of Santa Monica, California and Hamilton, Montana, Tim Fain is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and The Juilliard School. He performs on a Francesco Gobetti violin from Venice (1717), the “Moller,” on extended loan from Clement and Karen Arrison through the generous efforts of the Stradivari Society of Chicago.
Avery Fisher Career Grant-winning violinist and composer TIM FAIN has earned a reputation as a mesmerizing creator and performer appearing on today’s greatest stages, and as a composer with an authentic voice, pushing the envelope with cutting-edge technology. Performing on the soundtracks to Black Swan, 12 Years a Slave, Moonlight, HBO’s Succession, and many others, Fain is also increasingly acknowledged for his original film music, with scores for Munch (Best Nordic Film nominee, Göteborg Film Festival) and Los Huesos (Best Short, Venice Film Festival).
His violin concerto Edge of a Dream was performed by many orchestras including Amarillo Symphony and Buffalo Philharmonic. His work Resonance, commissioned by Google/YouTube for a groundbreaking VR video, was recorded by The Knights/Eric Jacobsen, shown at Sundance Film Festival. Fain’s boundary-pushing projects also include work with Samsung at TriBeCa Film Festival, for Facebook/Oculus, The Future of Storytelling, and Forbes and the city of Jerusalem, appearing at SXSW. His acclaimed multimedia show Portals features a Philip Glass work written for Fain, and collaborations with Leonard Cohen, among many others.
Whether touring with Glass, performing solo with the National Orchestra of Spain, at Carnegie Hall, or collaborating with Mitsuko Uchida, Meredith Monk, or Iggy Pop, Fain’s diverse career takes him to unique spaces across the globe, including the NYC Ballet, The Vatican, and performing for the Dalai Lama.
Fain performs on a Francesco Gobetti violin from Venice (1717), the “Moller,” on extended loan from Clement and Karen Arrison through the generous efforts of the Stradivari Society of Chicago.
Press
Quotes About Tim Fain
“In Baltimore, the soloist was the formidable virtuoso Tim Fain [Kernis Lament and Prayer], who swayed balletically as he dug into the score.”
“…breathtaking virtuosity, a strong sensitivity to the music’s diverse elements, and a nuance that gives each bow stroke a slightly different personality.”
“Exceptional…The recording [Lou Harrison Grand Duo] Is simply magnificent. Tim Fain and Michael Boriskin are soloists of great class….”
“In his Pittsburgh Symphony debut, Mr. Fain offered the piece’s almost Romantic melodies with a mellow, ribbon-like tone. His quiet, unsentimental take on the main theme of the second movement [Glass Concerto]Fain carried that melody like a breeze. A heaving vibrato closed the movement, puncturing its early triumph with sobs. With a quicksilver bow arm, the violinist offered equal facility in the rollicking syncopation of the finale, which seemed to elicit the verdant fertility of spring.”
“…a combination of power, precision and deeply expressive playing (with) crystal-clear articulation and razor-sharp accuracy.”
“Fain’s performance of [Bernstein Serenade] with the Buffalo Philharmonic was masterful. The result displayed Bernstein (and Fain) at their most beguiling as drama and release alternated over the course of the work’s five movements. It all ended with a big finish and a standing ovation.”
“Simply put, Fain’s playing was transcendent; the sheer difficulty of the piece, combined with his flawless execution left the most indelible impression from the entire evening.”
“A charismatic young prize-winning violinist, Tim Fain is a tall string bean of a fellow with a matinee idol profile, strong musical instincts, and first rate chops.”
“Timothy Fain delivered one of the best performances of the Beethoven Violin Concerto I’ve ever heard. It was strong, beautifully shaded, and intensely emotional.”
“Tim Fain’s performance [Bartók Violin Concerto No. 2] was expressive, brilliant and elegant.”
“What brought the audience to its feet demanding three encores was his sheer youthful exuberance and dazzling technical skill.”
“…a by-god spellbinder…those who think the violin has become as irrelevant…those who ardently pray for a reawakening of interest in it among composers, and those who enjoy exploring little-known literature – these will find an additional award in Fain’s playing of Bach should find the recital irresistible.”
“Playing from memory, Fain tore through the furious double stops, rhapsodic melodic flights and other flourishes like a possessed dervish. If you didn’t know all the music was written down, you’d have thought the fiddle virtuoso was improvising the entire piece. You had to hear it to believe it. Fain was astonishing.”
“Fain has the honeyed tone, spectacular technique and engrossing musicality of an old-school virtuoso tied to a contemporary sensibility.”
“Fain brought technical finesse, lyrical ardor and cagey control to his alluring performance [Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1]…the brilliant American violinist gave a rippling, zestful account of the scherzo and dispatched the streams of intricate scales and ornate passagework of the final Moderato with ease. A hit with the audience, this boyish virtuoso offered a sizable solo encore, “Arches…” a 10-minute, volatile and technically arduous work by the American composer Kevin Puts, and he played it scintillatingly.”
“Violinist Tim Fain plays like a virtuoso and thinks like a cinematographer. The show, Portals, is a smart mix of sound and vision for the Facebook age who love Bjork and Beethoven with equal ardor.”
Articles About Tim Fain
Violinist Tim Fain is featured solo violinist in Carter Burwell’s score for The Tragedy of Macbeth. The composer enlisted the award-winning violinist Tim Fain to help create a folk-style sound from unknown lands, crediting the musician for his ability to go “off the page” enough to give the compositions character and life.
On January 17, Tim Fain performs Dvořák’s Violin Concerto with the Helena Symphony. Music director Allan R. Scott conducts the concert as part of the orchestra’s Masterworks Concert Series.
Mr. Fain was the soloist, and he blazed through some of Mr. Glass’s flashiest riffs with impressive authority.
The Violin Concerto got an arresting performance, crowned by Tim Fain, an incredible artist who drew us in…The conclusion here is furious. The fabulous artist Fain captures it all.
Of Fain’s performance with the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall: What imprinted itself on the memory, though, was his great lyricism, the exciting weight of expression, and the human ebb and flow of emotions.
Tim Fain appears as soloist at Carnegie Hall in Philip Glass’ Violin Concerto No. 2, “The American Four Seasons,”
Violinist Tim Fain is a poster child for this new musical openness and ecumenicalism. But beyond just mixing genres, he is also fascinated with how music can engage more of the senses and interact with dance and film and new technologies like the fast-evolving realm of virtual reality. Chicago audiences will get a taste of Fain’s wide-ranging interests when he teams up with longtime friend, pianist, and Academy Award–nominated composer Nicholas Britell, for “Once Upon a Score,” a touring multimedia program that will make its debut on December 2 at Ravinia. Through music, visuals, and commentary, they will explore some of their collaborations in the realms of dance, virtual reality, and especially film. Britell is best known for his scores to Free States of Jones (2015), and this year’s Best Picture Oscar winner, Moonlight—excerpts from all three will be featured, as well as highlights of other projects that the two have worked on in one way or another.
The Music from Copland House ensemble made it all look easy; the scorchingly dramatic Derek Bermel was at his best, along with his outstanding colleagues Nicholas Kitchen and Timothy Fain (violins), and Michael Boriskin in fearless form on piano…the caliber of musicianship here could be a model for chamber music camaraderie.
Photos
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Media
Tim Fain – Mendelssohn Double Concerto
Recorded Live from Disney Hall in Los Angeles, Tim Fain performs Mendelssohn's Double Concerto with pianist Mariangela Vacatello.
Tim Fain – Glass Double Concerto For Violin, Cello And Orchestra Part I
A track from Philip Glass' Double Concerto For Violin, Cello And Orchestra performed by Tim Fain, cellist Wendy Sutter, and The Hague Philharmonic conducted by Jurjen Hempel, on an album recorded for Orange Mountain Music.
Tim Fain – Wieniawski Scherzo-Tarantelle, Op. 16
Tim Fain, accompanied by pianist Robert Koenig, performs Wieniawski's Scherzo-Tarantelle, Op. 16 on his album "First Loves."
PORTALS Official Trailer – Tim Fain, violin
PORTALS: a live multimedia exploration of longing and connection in the digital age with violinist Tim Fain, Philip Glass, Benjamin Millepied, Leonard Cohen, Kate Hackett, Nico Muhly, Fred Child, Nicholas Britell, etc. www.portalsproject.com
Tim Fain plays “Knee Play 2” from Philip Glass’ Einstein on the Beach
Tim Fain performs Knee Play 2, the hair-raising violin solo from Einstein On The Beach by American composer Philip Glass. Live concert footage from the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum, NYC.
Tim Fain Collaborates with Google – RESONANCE: A Jump VR Video
Tim Fain collaborates with Google on a music video for his composition, Resonance, introducing 360 stereoscopic VR capability for YouTube to the world, which subsequently was shown at The Sundance Film Festival.
Tim Fain – Barber Violin Concerto
Audio of Tim Fain performing the Barber Violin Concerto, 1st movement.
Tim Fain – Kreisler’s Praeludium and Allegro
Tim Fain, accompanied by pianist Robert Koenig, performs Kreisler's Praeludium and Allegro on his album "First Loves."
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Discography
Original Soundtrack from the film "Munch" about the Norwegian painter, composed and performed by Tim Fain.
It's that time of year! Two arrangements (and one mashup) of holiday tunes.
DJ Spooky's "Autumn" from Heart of a Forest, reimagined, recomposed and remixed by Tim Fain. Released in celebration of EARTH DAY 2021.
Hope is a song by Tim Fain and Sleeping At Last about the strength of vulnerable children in foster care and orphanages.
Isolation is a single release of a composition by Andrew John Kosinski, a quiet and powerful expression of the physical and emotional isolation so many were dealing with as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A collaboration with guitarist Giovanni Piacentini, this EP was recorded during the Covid-19 pandemic with Piacentini and Fain playing/recording their parts in separate states across the country.
Tim Fain's single release of Hallelujah, a cover of the sublime song by Leonard Cohen.
Glacial, for violin and orchestra, was composed as a wedding gift for friends getting married in Antarctica and subsequently used to celebrate Earth Day 2020.