KJ McDonald, violin

KJ (Kenneth Joshua) McDonald began his musical journey riding in the car, listening to his mother’s favorite violin recordings of Itzhak Perlman and his father’s favorite rock-n-roll albums. Little KJ, bobbing his head in time and humming along to the music in the back seat, mentioned to his mom that he would like to play the violin someday — in a wonderful twist of fate he would later study with Perlman. After an adventurous childhood of hiking and surfing in Southern California, he decided to continue his studies in a thrillingly novel setting, New York City. He studied with Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho at the Juilliard School where he completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees with a full-ride scholarship as a Kovner fellow.

His love for chamber music blossomed on the East Coast where he founded several quartets and worked extensively with present and past members of the Juilliard String Quartet and Cleveland Quartet. KJ has worked with outstanding musicians including Joseph Kalichstein, Merry Peckham, Kim Kashkashian, Larry Lesser, Seth Knopp, and Kirsten Docter.

Inspired by his father’s love for rock-n-roll and experimental genres, KJ is passionate about new music and actively seeks collaboration with innovative young composers. He has worked with many renowned composers including Steve Reich, Thomas Adès, Alvin Singleton, Kaija Saariaho, Tan Dun, Jorg Widmann, Wolfgang Rihm, Hilda Paredes, and John Adams. 

KJ has had the privilege of traveling the world to perform in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Jordan Hall. He recently gave his premier performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the Miami Symphony as a part of its season finale. He has attended many prestigious music festivals including Lucerne Festival Academy, IMS Prussia Cove, Perlman Music Program, and Yellow Barn. In his free time, KJ can be found reading works of classic literature to ground his music making and expand his imagination.