Teacher Profile: Evan Hjort

About Evan Hjort

Evan Hjort is a native of Seattle (WA) who recently returned to the area after completing his graduate violin studies at Boston’s New England Conservatory as a student of Donald Weilerstein. Prior to that, Evan was a recipient of the Presidential and Stamps Scholarships at the McDuffie Center for Strings in Macon, Georgia. Evan has always had the music bug, and first asked to start violin lessons after hearing a family friend play violin when he was two years old. He finally began playing violin at the age of six, started piano, composition, and music theory studies at age nine, and has enjoyed learning about music production and synthesis since 2016.

Evan is a member of the Los Angeles-based conductorless chamber orchestra Delirium Musicum, with whom he has toured extensively and recorded an album for Warner Classics. In recent years, Evan has played concerts across Europe, Asia, and America, and is a regular guest artist at the Rome Chamber Music Festival, Yellow Barn Music Festival, Classical Tahoe, and the Hawaii Chamber Music Festival. Evan loves all opportunities to collaborate through music, and especially enjoys working with living composers. He has premiered music by composers such as Tan Dun, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Caroline Shaw, Hilda Paredes, Gabriella Smith, and Wayne Shorter.

As a performer and follower of many non-classical musical styles, Evan has collaborated with members of Rolling Stones and R.E.M, performed new works alongside esteemed jazz musicians like Esperanza Spalding and Billy Childs, and contributed to several soundtracks for films and video games. He is currently recording an album of original electronic music to be released in fall of 2024. When not playing music, Evan enjoys being nerdy with his film studies group, soaking up the Washington sun while hiking in the Olympics, and constructing elaborate Halloween costumes.