Jeremy Black
Principal Second Violin
G. Christian Lantzsch & Duquesne Light Company Chair
Jeremy Black has been principal second violin of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra since 2017. He previously was a member of the first violin section from 2002– 2017. He also performs as concertmaster of the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in Chicago, a position he has held since 2005. Black has been invited to perform as guest concertmaster with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and Buffalo Philharmonic, and in the violin sections of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Cleveland Orchestra.
As a soloist and leader, Jeremy Black has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Live Chamber Ensemble, and in subscription concerts with the Chicago String Ensemble and Evanston Symphony. Highlights include a performance of the Dvořák Violin Concerto with Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Bach Concerto for Two Violins with Pinchas Zuckerman and the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra. Other solo performances with the Pittsburgh Symphony include concertos by Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Bach and Vivaldi, and works by Sarasate, Piazzolla, and John Williams. He has also given recitals at Carnegie Mellon, Chatham, and Duquesne Universities, West Liberty State College, and the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
Jeremy Black is sought-after as a teacher as well as a performer. He maintains an active private studio, is the coach of Chamber Music Pittsburgh’s competitive Montgomery Fellowship Quartet program, and is the first violin coach for the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra (PYSO) and Three Rivers Young People’s Orchestra (YPO). He has given master classes at many schools and universities, including Roosevelt University, Penn State University, Sphinx Performance Academy at Northwestern University, and Midwest Young Artists. His students have been accepted to top American music schools and have performed as concertmasters of both PYSO and YPO.
Jeremy Black was applauded for his “musical fire” and “effortless technique” by the Chicago Tribune for his debut performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age 12, winning first prize in the nationally broadcast 1991 Illinois Bell/WTTW Young Performers Competition. He won first prizes in the University of Michigan and Case Western Reserve University concerto competitions, the Society of American Musicians Competition, the Nordic Musical Arts Competition, and the Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition.
A native of Evanston, Illinois, Jeremy Black studied with the late Mark Zinger, a former student and colleague of David Oistrakh. His secondary education began in 1996 at Case Western Reserve University where he studied with Linda Cerone at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He then pursued his master’s degree with Paul Kantor at the University of Michigan.
Jeremy Black resides in Pittsburgh's Highland Park neighborhood with his wife, Kate, and their two sons. He plays a violin made by Lorenzo and Tommaso Carcassi, dated 1783. https://www.eastendviolinstudio.com
