Violist Kevin Bishop’s playing has been described by critics as bringing “lushness to the movement that easily touched the soul” (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.) Martin Perlich of KCSN FM has called him "a young knight in shining armor for classical music."
Kevin is active in the Los Angeles area as a chamber, solo, and orchestral musician. He has been the youngest member of two professional orchestras: The Redlands Symphony and West Coast Chamber Orchestra. He made his concerto debut with orchestra at 14, performing the Hoffmeister Viola Concerto, and his radio
performance debut at 15, performing Faure’s Piano Quartet live on K-Mozart 105.1 FM Los Angeles. By the age of 18, he had been interviewed by KUSC 91.5FM and KCSN 88.5FM, and was featured in a national article published by Chamber Music America. At 20 Kevin was a member of the Grammy Philharmonic Orchestra, performing at the internationally televised 2008 Grammy Awards. He has been a winner in the Dan Stover Music Competition, Claremont Symphony Young Artists Competition, and University of Redlands Concerto Competition, and has performed as a guest with the renowned Avanti String Quartet. As a teenager he had the
opportunity to perform with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and St. Petersburg String Quartet on various professional chamber music concerts. His string quartet has released a CD of new works and has been the resident faculty and performing artists at the 2007 and 2008 Celebration of Strings Festival and 2008 Strings Del Rio Festival in Arizona. He was principal violist of the Southern California Brahms Festival, which presented the complete chamber music with piano of Brahms in the 2007-2008 season, and is assistant principal violist of the Debut Orchestra in Los Angeles.
Kevin’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to found, as a teenager, the Western Society of Chamber Music. This non-profit organization- featuring monthly concerts, a community orchestra, and an educational program for high school students- has received national attention and nationally competitive grants. Kevin served as Executive and Artistic Director for three years, and is active as a performer and teacher within the organization.
Kevin has been on staff at the Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory in the summers of 2006 and 2007 as Chamber Music Coordinator and Music Librarian. He has also attended the Meadowmount School of Music in New York, the Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival in Washington, the ASTA Chamber Music Institute in California and the Wildwood Music Institute. He has benefited from master classes with musicians such as Paul Neubauer, Yitzak Schotten, and the Ives String Quartet. Kevin’s work in alternative genres include collaborations with the Foo Fighters and with John Paul Jones (member of Led Zepplin.)
Kevin was recently selected from an international pool of young musicians as a fellow of the prestigious Music Academy of the West. This summer, following his residency with the Strings Del Rio Festival, he will have the opportunity to work with renowned conductors and musicians such as Leonard Slatkin and Nicholas McGegan.
Kevin earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was a Regents Scholar and student of Helen Callus.