Nora Germain
Violin, Voice
34 age
August 21, 1991 Birthday
Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. Birthplace
www.noragermain.com Website
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About
Nora Germain is a Los Angeles-based jazz violinist who has become one of the most visible advocates for the instrument in contemporary jazz. She was the first violinist to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Jazz Studies from the USC Thornton School of Music and the first to formally study jazz violin at the Idyllwild Arts Academy. Germain has released twelve solo albums and played on over one hundred fifty recordings. She tours and records regularly with pianist Jon Batiste, contributing violin to his album Big Money, which won the Grammy for Best Americana Album at the 68th Grammy Awards. Her other collaborators include Jacob Collier, Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Martin Taylor, Tommy Emmanuel, and Sam Smith, with whom she performed at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards. She has appeared on Postmodern Jukebox videos totaling over twelve million views and performed at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, the Grand Ole Opry, and Austin City Limits.
Trivia
Germain is one-quarter Catalan through her maternal grandmother, a pianist and singer from Barcelona. She has perfect pitch, which she discovered at age ten. She performed weekly for two years at Children's Hospital Los Angeles through the Mark Taper-Johnny Mercer Volunteer Artist Program. She is also the author of Go For It: Surviving the Challenges of Becoming an Artist, an inspirational book about the challenges of building a career in music, updated with a new edition in 2024.
Early Life
Born on August 21, 1991, in Madison, Wisconsin, Nora Francesca Germain grew up in a deeply musical household. Both parents were professional classical violinists in the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and her maternal grandmother was a cellist in the same ensemble. Her father later became a violin luthier. She began violin study around age two through her mother's Suzuki Strings of Madison program and attended masterclasses with Mark O'Connor and Hilary Hahn as a child. At sixteen, while attending the Idyllwild Arts Academy, she heard Stephane Grappelli's 1956 album Improvisations and experienced what she calls a moment of profound liberation, committing her to jazz violin. Her primary mentor at Idyllwild was bassist Marshall Hawkins, who had performed with Miles Davis and Shirley Horn. Germain went on to earn a full-scholarship BA in Jazz Studies from USC Thornton, graduating in 2014 as the first violinist to complete that degree.
Nora Germain Solos
2024
Violin solo - Piccadilly Stomp - 2024
4/4 swing in D major at 276 BPM
Violin solo - A Kiss to Build a Dream On - 2024
4/4 swing in C major at 83 BPM
Violin solo - Mendelswing - 2024
4/4 swing in E minor at 245 BPM
Violin solo - Pent-Up House - 2024
4/4 swing in G major at 264 BPM
Violin solo - Humoresque No. 7 - 2024
4/4 swing in F major at 193 BPM
Violin solo - Happy Jazz - 2024
4/4 swing in B♭ major at 136 BPM
Violin solo - Always Your Friend - 2024
4/4 swing in G major at 186 BPM
Voice solo - Yardbird Suite - 2024
4/4 swing in C major at 220 BPM