Mark Fewer – Violin

In a career that now spans over three decades, violinist Mark Fewer has been an interpreter of music past and present in virtually every genre and setting you will find a violin in.  From appearances at famed concert halls such as Carnegie, Wigmore and Salle Pleyel, to venues such as Bartok House (Budapest), the Forum (Taipei) and Le Poisson Rouge (NYC), Fewer has appeared as featured guest soloist with ensembles ranging from the Zapp Quartet of Amsterdam, the Fodens-Richardson Brass Band (UK), the Chieftains, Stevie Wonder and his band, and the major symphonies of Toronto, San Francisco, Melbourne and more.  

He has presented the premieres of over 200 works - more than 50 of which were written for him - with the 2023-24 season seeing premieres of new works by Melia Watras, Chris Paul Harman, David Braid, Alissa Cheung and others.  Canadian jazz icon Phil Dwyer wrote his Juno-winning work Changing Seasons for Fewer, citing his “seemingly clairvoyant skills at interpretation”.  When giving the Canadian premiere of John Adams The Dharma at Big Sur for 6-string electric violin and orchestra, the Globe and Mail referred to his performance as “intrepid”. 

His extensive and unique discography includes appearances on multiple Juno-winning recordings, one Grammy winning recording, and a Prix Opus for a recording celebrating the work of Canadian composer Serge Arcuri.  Other recordings of interest include the complete Sonatas of the Italian baroque composer Pandolfi-Mealli with the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the Sonatas of George Antheil with pianist John Novacek, the so-called “Jazz Sonata” of Bohuslav Martinu with Art of Time director Andrew Burashko, and Nine Daies Wander by Bramwell Tovey, written specifically for Fewer as a tribute to Shakespeare’s comedic actor Will Kemp.  Soon to be released are new recordings featuring works by Inuit soprano-composer Deantha Edmunds, Jaroslav Kapuscinski, Robert Carli, and Chris Paul Harman. 

Fewer is also a jazz violinist, appearing on stage with Dave Young, Brad Turner, Jodi Proznick, Jim Doxas, Jan Jarczyk, Pekka Kuusisto, Heather Bambrick, Suba Sankaran, Aaron Davis and many more. 

He has held the positions of Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony, Artist-in-Residence at Stanford University, William Dawson Scholar at McGill University, and Artist-in-Residence at the Glamorgan Festival of Music in Cardiff, Wales.  As a chamber musician he was a founding member of the Duke Piano Trio, violinist with the SuperNova and St. Lawrence String Quartets, and was an original member of the ARC Ensemble.  He is currently first violinist of the Axelrod String Quartet at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, where the group performs and records exclusively on Stradivari and Amati instruments from the museum’s famed collection. 

After 16 years as the founding artistic director of the SweetWater Music Festival, he is now in his sixth season at the helm of Stratford Summer Music. 

He is an Associate Professor of Violin at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto.