Violinist Nathan Cole Launches Second Round of The Violympics in Partnership with Curtis Institute of Music

Nathan Cole, First Associate Concertmaster for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will launch the second installment of The Violympics on June 14, 2021. A series of 6 two-week training events, The Violympics give violinists of all levels and experiences the tools to advance their craft like never before.

The Violympians will be tasked with learning 6 challenge pieces during each two-week training event, and will perform each work for special guest violinists Noah Bendix-Balgley, James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, Jennifer Koh, Kerson Leong and Gil Shaham. Nathan has partnered with his alma mater, the Curtis Institute of Music, and former Chair of Composition David Ludwig, to co-commission five new works by Curtis compositions students. The sixth challenge piece will be a work that Ludwig, now Dean and Director of Juilliard's Music Division, composed for Jennifer Koh in 2016.

Each of the special guest violinists will appear with Nathan during a special Zoom session to coach the Violympians and help them prepare for the performance event. The Curtis composition students will select the top 10 performances from each event, and the special guest violinist will choose the winner, who will win a trip to Philadelphia to spend two days with Nathan Cole at the Curtis Institute of Music. The winner will get a lesson from Cole, and will observe lesions, classes, rehearsals and performances at Curtis.

"The success of the 2020 Violympics program really opened my eyes to the many possibilities and benefits of training and learning with a virtual community from around the world," said Cole. "I'm very thankful to the Curtis Institute of Music, David Ludwig, the Curtis composition students, and all the participating violinists who have come together to make this second launch of The Violympics possible."

"Nathan Cole's Violympics project is a model of forward-thinking music education programs," said Ludwig. "We are excited to partner with Mr. Cole, who is an alum of Curtis, to bring these new works to life to be performed by some of the top artists of our time. By encouraging the creation of music Mr. Cole is ensuring its future, and we are thrilled to be included in the Violympics community this year."

The Violympics tuition is $797; registration is open June 1 - 9, 2021.

The inaugural Violympics was launched in June 2020, and served over 400 students from 30 countries and 43 U.S. states. Guided by Nathan's mentorship, participants explored crucial fundamentals in a fun format while building an online global community of musicians.

The Violympics is an extension of an online teaching platform that began over a decade ago, when Nathan started posting instructional videos on YouTube. Expecting to attract maybe 25-50 people, he instead quickly had an online student base in the thousands. He realized there were not many solutions for advanced training online, so he refined his offerings over the years to focus on this niche.

Please visit violympics.com for more information.

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