Violinist Alex Hargreaves is an active performer, playing on stages around the world including Austin City Limits, A Prairie Home Companion, Grand Ole Opry, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Panama Jazz Festival, Bonnaroo, Newport Jazz Festival, and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, as well as venues in the UK, France, Italy, Canada, and South Korea. He is a member of world-renowned mandolinist Mike Marshall’s Big Trio, along with bassist Paul Kowert (Punch Brothers) and has toured with the trio extensively following the 2008 release of their self-titled album on Adventure Music. Matt Glaser, artistic director of Berklee College of Music, American Roots Program, states simply, “Truly, Alex Hargreaves is the best young jazz violinist in America.”
Alex also performs and tours with singer/multi-instrumentalist, Sarah Jarosz, appearing on her two critically acclaimed albums, Song Up In Her Head and Follow Me Down (Sugar Hill Records), as well as being featured on her Grammy-nominated instrumental, Mansinneedof. He’s also toured with Jerry Douglas, David Grisman, Bela Fleck, Danilo Perez, Bruce Molsky, and has shared the stage with Mark O’Connor, Chris Thile, Brian Blade, Joe Lovano, Mumford & Sons, Darol Anger, Tim O’Brien and Sam Bush.
Throughout his career, Alex has received countless honors including the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin from Mark O’Connor’s Strings Conference, and the Alternative Styles Award from the American Strings Teachers Association (ASTA). He is the youngest ever (age 15) to win the Grand Champion division at the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest in Weiser, Idaho, and in 2009, won the Grand Masters Fiddle Championship in Nashville. In October 2010, at the Monterey Jazz Festival, Alex was awarded the Jimmy Lyons Scholarship, a full tuition scholarship to the Berklee College of Music.
In February, 2010, Alex’s debut album, Prelude (Adventure Music) was released, featuring master acoustic musicians Mike Marshall, Grant Gordy and Paul Kowert, and special guests Bela Fleck and Noam Pikelny. Prelude portrays Hargreaves’ maturity not only as a cross-genre violinist and improviser, but also as a composer, with his original compositions comprising half the album.
His playing on Prelude has been acclaimed by critics and musicians alike. All Music Guide cites Alex’s “undeniable,” “pure, raw talent,” and David Grisman comments, “[Alex] plays with wit, authority and soulfulness belying his years. In my opinion, he’s destined to be one of the fiddle giants of the 21st century.” For Mike Marshall, Alex is “arguably one of the greatest improvising violinists in America today.”
In pursuit of his passion for jazz and improvisational-based music, Alex has completed the prestigious Berklee Global Jazz Institute at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Under the artistic direction of world-renowned pianist Danilo Perez (Dizzy Gillespie and Wayne Shorter), this new program admits only a handful of students each year, providing them with the opportunity to work one-on-one with a select group of faculty, including Perez, Joe Lovano, John Patitucci, Ben Street and Jamey Haddad.
