Few musicians trained to play the notes of classical legends like Isaac Stern and Ludwig Strauss have successfully made the transition from the stately halls of strings to the beat-filled streets of hip-hop.
Miri Ben-Ari, a hip-hop violinist and an Apollo Legend, has done just that.
Ben-Ari has performed violin for musical power players Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Mos Def and Janet Jackson.
She will bring her formula of hip-hop with a classical twist to the Student Union’s Great Hall tonight in the last performance of the Carolina Live! concert series.
With classical talent and unprecedented creativity, Ben-Ari has connected two worlds of music that seem millions of miles apart — and in the process, she has taken the hip-hop world by storm.
“To have the opportunity to be a hip-hop violinist is the opportunity of a lifetime,” Ben-Ari said. “Many see me as a pioneer, doing something that’s never been done before.”
In two years, the 27-year-old Israel native has added to her resume names with which most new artists spend years trying to work.
She is responsible for all the string arrangements, production and performances on Kanye West’s debut album The College Dropout, and she earned her first Grammy for her work on “Jesus Walks,” the spiritually conscious “Rap Song of the Year.”
Ben-Ari grew up in a small town outside of Tel-Aviv, Israel, where she began to play the violin. During her mandatory military service in the Israeli Army, she was introduced to the music of American jazz legends like Charlie Parker.
