Solitude/Isolation
There are many ways to be alone.
Gupta…is one of the most radical thinkers in the unradical world of American classical music. With Street Symphony, he has created a formidable new model for how musical institutions should engage with the world around them. – Alex Ross, The New Yorker
Vijay Gupta is a violinist and social justice advocate.
An esteemed performer, communicator, and citizen-artist, Gupta is a leading advocate for the role of the arts and music to heal, inspire, provoke change, and foster social connection. Gupta is the founder and Artistic Director of Street Symphony, a non-profit organization providing musical engagement, dialogue and teaching artistry for homeless and incarcerated communities in Los Angeles.
Contact Vijay
Please use the form on this section to contact Vijay with any inquiries.
MacArthur Photo Credit: John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation
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Vijay Gupta - Violinist
6 hours ago
"As we rebuild the nation for which we stand, the artists of America must kneel and kiss the ground.
We must let the beauty we love — the art we love, the nation we love — become what we do.
We must become America, the beautiful.
We practice the modest, un-applauded integrity between notes and brushstrokes, we practice the relationships between us and our colleagues. We practice listening, and we practice new conversations of accountability between our funders and our communities. We practice standing in the gap across the atavistic fear and sadness and pain which keeps us disconnected from ourselves and from each other. As artists have always done, we practice change. We practice evolution.
We practice a human policy of connection."
The transcript of the 33rd Nancy Hanks Lecture, delivered as the opening keynote of the Americans for the Arts National Convention, can be found at the link.
medium.com/@guptaviolin/the-next-response-practicing-the-future-now-bd7913b2c643 ...
The Next Response: Practicing the Future, Now
medium.com
[On June 23rd, I delivered the 33rd annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy for Americans for the Arts, introduced by Speaker…Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email
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This concert was brought to you by the number 1...
I remember I went to one of your practices when we were 6. Lol
Beautiful!
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gupta_violin
Jul 13
“I have to constantly re-identify myself to myself, reactivate my own standards, my own convictions about what I'm doing and why.”⠀
― Nina Simone⠀
#BachEveryday 151: Fugue from the Sonata in C Major⠀ ...
gupta_violin
Jul 12
"I am a cage, in search of a bird."⠀
— Franz Kafka⠀
#BachEveryday 150: Fugue from the Sonata in C Major⠀ ...
gupta_violin
Jul 11
⠀
"Leap, and the net will appear."⠀
— Julia Cameron⠀
#BachEveryday 149: Fugue from the Sonata in C Major⠀ ...
gupta_violin
Jul 10
"The only truth is music."⠀
— Jack Kerouac⠀
#BachEveryday 148: Fugue from the Sonata in C Major⠀ ...
gupta_violin
Jul 9
"And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about."⠀
— Haruki Murakami (Kafka on the Shore)⠀
#BachEveryday 147: Fugue from the Sonata in C Major⠀ ...
gupta_violin
Jul 8
"...But if a mirror ever makes⠀
you sad⠀
⠀
you should know⠀
that it does⠀
not know⠀
you."⠀
— Kabir⠀
#BachEveryday 146: Fugue from the Sonata in C Major⠀ ...
gupta_violin
Jul 8
"You are what your deepest desire is. As is your desire, so is your intention. As is your intention, so is your will. As is your will, so is your deed. As is your deed, so is your destiny."⠀
— Brihadaranyaka Upanishad⠀
#BachEveryday 145: Adagio from the Sonata in C Major⠀ ...
gupta_violin
Jul 6
"Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option."⠀
— Maya Angelou⠀
#BachEveryday 144: Adagio from the Sonata in C Major⠀ ...
gupta_violin
Jul 5
DEAR DIARY
You are greater than the Bible
And the Conference of the Birds
And the Upanishads
All put together
You are more severe
Than the Scriptures
And Hammurabi’s Code
More dangerous than Luther’s paper
Nailed to the Cathedral door
You are sweeter
Than the Song of Songs
Mightier by far
Than the Epic of Gilgamesh
And braver
Than the Sagas of Iceland
I bow my head in gratitude
To the ones who give their lives
To keep the secret
The daily secret
Under lock and key
Dear Diary
I mean no disrespect
But you are more sublime
Than any Sacred Text
Sometimes just a list
Of my events
Is holier than the Bill of Rights
And more intense
— Leonard Cohen (Book of Longing)
#BachEveryday 143: Adagio from the Sonata in C Major ...
gupta_violin
Jul 4
"You do not need to work to become spiritual. You are spiritual; you need only to remember that fact. Spirit is within you. God is within you. (67)"
— Julia Cameron
#BachEveryday 142: Adagio from the Sonata in C Major ...
gupta_violin
Jul 3
“I’ll tell you what Freedom is to me. No fear.”
—Nina Simone
#BachEveryday 141: Ciaccona from the Partita in d minor ...
gupta_violin
Jul 2
“I should be sorry if I only entertain them. I wish to make them better.”
—George Fredric Handel
#BachEveryday 140: Ciaccona from the Partita in D minor ...
gupta_violin
Jul 1
“You are the music while the music lasts”
—TS Eliot
#BachEveryday 139: Ciaccona from the Partita in D minor ...
gupta_violin
Jul 1
“Eagle Poem”
To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear;
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.
Like eagle that Sunday morning
Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky
In wind, swept our hearts clean
With sacred wings.
We see you, see ourselves and know
That we must take the utmost care
And kindness in all things.
Breathe in, knowing we are made of
All this, and breathe, knowing
We are truly blessed because we
Were born, and die soon within a
True circle of motion,
Like eagle rounding out the morning
Inside us.
We pray that it will be done
In beauty.
In beauty.
* Joy Harjo
#BachEveryday 138: Ciaccona from the Partita in D Minor ...
gupta_violin
Jun 29
“We who are in the arts are at the risk of being in a popularity contest rather than a profession. If that fact causes you despair . . . pick another profession. Your desire to communicate must be bigger than your relationship with the chaotic and unfair realities . . . We have to create our own standards of discipline.”
—Anna Deavere Smith, Letters to a Young Artist
#BachEveryday 137: Ciaccona from the Partita in D Minor ...