Home » 2021-2022 Arts and Humanities Dean's Lecture Series, Featuring Vijay Gupta

2021-2022 Arts and Humanities Dean's Lecture Series, Featuring Vijay Gupta

Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Gildenhorn Recital Hall
Thursday, October 21, 2021 - 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM

As part of Arts for All, a campuswide initiative leveraging the combined power of the arts, technology and social justice to address the grand challenges of our time, the College of Arts and Humanities presents violin prodigy and social justice advocate Vijay Gupta. Gupta, who in 2007 became the youngest violinist ever to join the Los Angeles Philharmonic, has emerged as a leading voice for the role of music to heal, inspire, provoke change and foster social connection. A 2018 MacArthur Fellow, he is the founder and artistic director of Street Symphony, a nonprofit that presents musical events and workshops to Los Angeles communities disenfranchised by homelessness, poverty and incarceration. His lecture will be followed by a Q&A. Gupta will also sell and sign his two recent CDs in the lobby after the event.

Free, ticket required 
For tickets or more information, visit go.umd.edu/gupta or call 301-405-ARTS.
Co-sponsored by the School of Music

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About The Speaker
Vijay Gupta is a violinist and social justice advocate. An esteemed performer, communicator, educator 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. 

Recognized for his “dedication to bringing beauty, respite, and purpose to those all too often ignored by society while demonstrating the capacity of music to validate our shared humanity”, Vijay Gupta is a 2018 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow. 

Vijay Gupta joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2007 at age 19, and currently serves as the Mark Houston Dalzell and James Dao-Dalzell Chair in the First Violin section. A passionate and dedicated educator, Gupta serves on the faculty of the Colburn School and the Longy School of Music. Gupta also serves on the board of directors of the DC-based national arts advocacy organization Americans for the Arts, as well as Los Angeles’s beloved 24th STreet Theatre. 

Vijay Gupta made his solo debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta at age 11, and has been an acclaimed international performer since the age of 8. He has appeared as a guest concertmaster with the Los Angeles Opera and the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, and is an active recitalist, soloist and chamber musician. Gupta also speaks and advocates nationally on the intersection of music, health, and social justice issues. 

Vijay Gupta holds a BS in biology from Marist College (‘05) and an MM in violin performance from the Yale School of Music (‘07). Gupta is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by the University of La Verne and the 2017 Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award for the Elevation of Music in Society from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. Gupta is a 2017 Citizen Artist Fellow with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and a 2011 TED Senior Fellow.

About the Arts and Humanities Dean’s Lecture Series
The Arts and Humanities Dean's Lecture Series provides an opportunity for the college faculty, students and staff to join together with colleagues across campus for stimulating conversation about issues that cross our disciplines. Lectures and performances may address either enduring or emerging questions central to the arts and humanities, or questions arising from other disciplines to which the arts and humanities might speak. In addition to presenting a major public event, each lecturer interacts in smaller settings with faculty, graduate students and/or undergraduates. Lectures and performances in the series may be co-sponsored with particular programs, centers, or departments within the college, with other colleges, and with external organizations.