"Talent that's off the scale"
Stefan Jackiw is one of America’s foremost violinists, captivating audiences with playing that combines poetry and purity with impeccable technique. Hailed for playing of “uncommon musical substance” that is “striking for its intelligence and sensitivity” (Boston Globe), Jackiw has appeared as a soloist with the Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco symphony orchestras, among others.
In the 2026-27 season, Stefan Jackiw opens the Minnesota Orchestra's season, performing Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 'Turkish' under Music Director Thomas Søndergård, and performs the same concerto later in the season with the Houston Symphony under Juraj Valčuha. Jackiw also serves as the 2026-27 Artist in Residence for the Residentie Orkest Den Haag. Performances throughout the season include Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev Violin Concertos led by Jun Märkl and Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 with Richard Egarr. As soloist and director, Jackiw will lead the Tapiola Sinfonietta through a program including Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor.
Jackiw continues to tour with the Junction Trio, returning to Carnegie Hall for the world premiere performance of Caroline Shaw's First Essay, “Nimrod,” from Three Essays and a newly commissioned work by Andrew Norman. Additional trio tour stops include Vivo Performing Arts, San Francisco Performances, Laguna Beach Music Festival, and The Schubert Club, among others.
Jackiw's 2025-26 season included returns to the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, and the Indianapolis Symphony. He made debuts at London's iconic Southbank Centre and with the Austin Symphony. Jackiw served as the Artistic Director of the 2026 Laguna Beach Music Festival, presenting three consecutive concerts featuring a varied repertoire, including Janáček’s Kreutzer Sonata.
Jackiw's 2024–25 season included performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Suwon Philharmonic, the Pasadena Symphony, The Florida Orchestra, the Erie Philharmonic, and the Jacksonville Symphony, as well as the Junction Trio's return to 92NY featuring the world premiere of a new work by John Zorn.
Jackiw opened the 2023–24 season with the New York Philharmonic, performing the Barber Concerto with Jaap van Zweden. Highlights included four world premieres at Roulette, appearances with the Taiwan Philharmonic and China National Symphony, and the Junction Trio's acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut.
Jackiw frequently tours with his musical partners, pianist Conrad Tao and cellist Jay Campbell, as part of the Junction Trio. In 2021, Jackiw performed a new Violin concerto, written for him by Conrad Tao and premiered by the Atlanta Symphony and Baltimore Symphony. He also enjoys collaborating with pianist Jeremy Denk, with whom he recorded the complete Ives Violin Sonatas on Nonesuch Records. The album was universally lauded by critics, with The New Yorker's Alex Ross naming Jackiw's performance "a new standard." In 2019, he recorded Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Inon Barnatan, Alisa Weilerstein, Alan Gilbert, and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. He has also premiered David Fulmer’s concerto Jauchzende Bögen with Matthias Pintscher and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen at the Heidelberger Frühling.
Jackiw has performed in numerous major festivals and concert halls around the world, including the Aspen Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City Festival, the Philharmonie de Paris, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Vivo Performing Arts of Boston, and the Washington Performing Arts Society. Jackiw is the Artistic Director of the Hawai'i Chamber Music Festival, a position that has just been extended through the 2031 season.
Born to physicist parents of Korean and Ukrainian descent, Stefan Jackiw began playing the violin at the age of four. His teachers have included Zinaida Gilels, Michèle Auclair, and Donald Weilerstein. Jackiw is a distinguished artist faculty member of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, as well as an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory, and is the recipient of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. Jackiw plays a violin made by Domenico Montagnana “ex. Rossi” c. 1730, generously loaned by a private foundation. He lives in New York City.
