Bio
26 year-old violinist, violist, and composer Josée Weigand is an active and professional musician with performances ranging from The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville to Carnegie Hall in New York City.
After spending the past year working for a Music Production Company in Chicago, she recently moved to Nashville, TN, where she performs with the classical, touring string quartet, “La Vie Quartet.” “La Vie” has collaborated with Johnnyswim, Local Sound, and more. They also produce their own shows in Nashville featuring some of the highest caliber classical string quartets in the repertoire today.
Her original musical “Falling Out” premiered in NYC last winter as part of the 2018 NY Winterfest Festival in Manhattan. The 1st single from the musical, “City Streets” is currently out on Spotify and iTunes. She studies with Broadway composer, Steven Lutvak.
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After winning several competitions for piano and violin in high school, she went on to study violin performance at Cedarville University and then later North Park University. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from North Park University, where she was concertmaster, recitalist, and soloist with the orchestra.
After graduating from university she moved to New York City to study violin with a world-renowned teacher. While in NYC, she performed with the Central Presbyterian Chamber Orchestra, Litha Symphony, Utopia Opera, the South Florida Symphony, the International Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, and as part of a professional Irish music duo, to name a few.
As a diverse and traveling musician, she has been asked to perform in Los Angeles, Chicago, Southern Florida, Nashville, New York City, Milwaukee, and Napa Valley, CA.
Her classical teachers include Robert Hanford, Renée-Paule Gauthier, Jun Kim, and Jerry Loughney and she has worked with and performed for famous ensembles including Quartet San Francisco, the Arianna String Quartet, the Russian National Orchestra, Solas, Liz Carroll, and the Annie Moses Band.
Her work in the Midwest in the past years includes teaching elementary music at an inner city school in Milwaukee, playing and recording with her church music team, teaching violin lessons, recording and performing with her Bluegrass band, and performing Irish music in Chicago. She currently performs professionally on violin and viola with the Kenosha Symphony Orchestra, the Festival City Symphony (Milwaukee) and the Skokie Valley Symphony.
She can also be heard on several professional albums and CDs in collaboration with musicians of all genres, spanning from contemporary worship bands, rock bands, bluegrass groups, and recordings of her original works. She is often asked to write and creatively provide a string part for recordings and artists.
She began writing and composing at age 15 and her compositions have been debuted in concert halls and churches in the Midwest (and expanding), including a performance of her short symphony by the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra.
She considers herself first and foremost a classical violinist and secondly, an improvisational musician. She has training and is proficient in Irish music, bluegrass and improvisation of all kinds. Aside from playing violin, she performs on viola, piano, voice, and guitar.
Josée believes in the positive influence of music education and how music enriches lives and culture. She plans to one day open a music school and teach courses in music improvisation and creativity.
Her favorite place to play her music is in church, with other musicians and believers.
Aside from practicing, performing, teaching, and writing music, Josée enjoys playing tennis, social activities, shopping, cooking, exploring new cities, spending time with her ever growing family, the ocean, and summertime.
