Canadian-born violinist Edwin Huizinga has established a reputation as one of North America’s most versatile violinists. He thrives in both Baroque and modern repertoire and performs with musicians from multiple genres and practices worldwide. He has appeared alongside Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Renée Fleming, Dawn Upshaw, Mike Marshall, and Stevie Wonder. Huizinga has performed as a featured soloist with the San Bernardino Symphony, Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival, and the Banff Summer Arts Festival. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Note Bene Ensemble, Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra, Georgetown Bach Chorale, Carmel Bach Festival, and Sweetwater Music Festival, among many others.
In the Baroque field, Huizinga has toured throughout North America, Europe, and Asia with Tafelmusik, Opera Atelier, the Wallfisch Band, Aradia Ensemble, Apollo’s Fire, and Theater of Early Music. He is a founding member of the Baroque ensemble ACRONYM. Huizinga has also served as guest director of the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, as a guest artist with I FURIOSI Baroque Ensemble, and as guest concertmaster with the New Dutch Academy and the Kansas City Baroque Orchestra. Huizinga has performed on the modern violin with The Knights orchestra and has worked with notable conductors including James Gaffigan, Bruno Weil, Simon Rattle, Matthias Pintscher, Paul Goodwin, and Jane Glover. In recent seasons, Huizinga made his conducting and soloist debut with the Guelph Symphony Orchestra and led the Regina Symphony.
Huizinga’s wide-ranging musical interests are expressed in numerous other ventures. He is a founding member of the duo Fire & Grace, an eclectic collaboration with guitarist William Coulter. This unique duo explores the connective musical elements of classical, folk, and contemporary traditions from around the world, with vast repertoire ranging from Bach to Vivaldi, tango to Celtic tunes, and traditional Bulgarian to American fiddle tunes and waltzes. He has also performed as a member of the Juno-nominated indie rock band, The Wooden Sky. Additional collaborations include Broken Social Scene and Jazz Mafia, and he has recorded with The Mars Volta and Vanessa Carlton, Great Bloomers, and the Minataurs.
Huizinga’s passion for bringing chamber music to the people led to an international movement: He is a founding member of Classical Revolution, which began in San Francisco in 2006. Classical Revolution has now grown to numerous cities around the world and presents concerts and jam sessions in alternative spaces.
Huizinga’s dedication to music education and outreach is evident: He has served as Artistic Director of the Big Sur Music Camp and coordinated musical outreach with the Carmel Bach Festival, Banff Arts Centre, and Oberlin College and Conservatory’s program in Panama City, Panama. He has also taught in The Hammer Band’s Violence to Violins program in Toronto, reaching children in at-risk neighborhoods who may otherwise never have an opportunity to learn music or play an instrument.
Huizinga currently serves as the artistic director of the Sweetwater Music Festival and is on the artistic leadership team of the Carmel Bach Festival.
He earned a Bachelor of Music degree at Oberlin Conservatory and a Master of Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
