William Knuth

William Knuth
Violin

William Knuth, a violinist and Fulbright Scholar who has earned recognition for his artistry as a solo and chamber musician, is currently Assistant Professor of Violin and Head of String Area at Syracuse University Setnor School of Music. As a current member of Duo Sonidos with guitarist Adam Levin, Knuth has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, and South America.

Knuth and Levin released their most recent album Duo Sonidos: Wild Dance on the NAXOS label, which immediately rose to no. 3 on the Billboard classical music charts. The duo was awarded First Prize at the 2010 Luys Milan International Chamber Music Competition in Valencia, Spain, and BBC Music Magazine chose the debut album Duo Sonidos as the “BBC Top Choice US Release Album.”

Knuth is also a member of the esteemed New York City-based new music group Ensemble Signal and has a private teaching studio in Syracuse.  He served as associate concertmaster of the vibrant Boston-based chamber orchestra Discovery Ensemble and held an ongoing residency with WGBH Boston Radio’s Fraser Performing Arts Studio. While in Boston, he was also a member of the Boston Philharmonic under the leadership of Benjamin Zander.

Knuth’s concerts in the U.S. have included a debut at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall; performances in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Strathmore Center, Austin Chamber Music Festival, Guitar Foundation of American International Festvial, University of Miami Frost School of Music, Fundacao Oscar Americano Sao Paulo, Columbia University’s Miller Theater, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, Harvard Sanders Theater, Boston WGBH radio, Chicago WFMT radio, WCNY radio, NPR radio and Mayne Stage Chicago; guest solo appearances with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and the Boston International Guitarfest; and ensemble work with Jacksonville Symphony, Discovery Ensemble, Signal Ensemble, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Harvard Group for New Music, IMPULS Festival Austria, June in Buffalo Festival, Big Ears Festival and the Ojai Festival. Special projects have included collaborations with Steve Reich, Kaija Saariaho, Salvador Brotons, Eduardo Morales-Caso, Jorge Muniz, Phillip Glass, Julia Wolfe, David Lang, Lukas Foss, Norah Jones, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, Goldfrapp, David Byrne, Jon Brion and the Goo Goo Dolls.

Knuth holds an M.M. from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied violin with Nicholas Kitchen of the Borromeo Quartet and chamber music with Eliot Fisk and Paul Biss; a Fulbright certificate for studies in Austria with Ernst Kovacic at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts; and a B.M. from the Eastman School of Music, where he was a student of Lynn Blakeslee.