Joel Pargman
violin
Joel Pargman, violinist, graduated summa cum laude in 2002 from the University of Southern California, where he studied with Robert Lipsett and served as a teaching assistant in violin and in music history. Born in San Bernardino and having spent his youth in the Pacific Northwest, he now resides in Pasadena.
He is a guest performer in the second violin section of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra this season, and has performed frequently with LACO since 2005. Joel also is a member of the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, the Pasadena Symphony and the Riverside Philharmonic. He records music for film, television and albums of diverse genres. Some recent projects include feature films Knight and Day, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Marmaduke. Joel’s playing has been heard and seen live on national and international media broadcasts, including A Prairie Home Companion, NPR’s World Cafe, XM Satellite Radio’s The Joint, KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and the 2006-07 Grammy® Awards telecasts.
Joel has performed as a featured soloist with the Seattle Philharmonic, Seattle Musicians Emeritus Orchestra, the Tacoma Youth symphonies and the Bremerton Symphony. He recently made his Walt Disney Concert Hall debut performing new solo and chamber works by Maria Grenfell and Liza Lim on the LA Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella Series.
For three summers, Joel was a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center, most recently as a member of its resident new-music quartet, the New Fromm Players. The ensemble premiered works by the composition fellows-in-residence, performing new works by Bright Sheng and John Harbison, and collaborating in performances with the Mark Morris Dance Company. He has also spent summers at the Aspen Music Festival, the Encore School for Strings, the Indiana University String Academy and the Academie Musicale de Villecroze, where he was a student of Pamela Frank.
Joel currently holds a position as artist-in-residence with the Denali Quartet at Santa Monica’s critically acclaimed Jacaranda concert series.
On the rare occasions when a violin is not under his chin, Joel enjoys hiking, cooking, table tennis and commercial airline flights.
