The Hip-Hop violinist

Miri Ben-Ari, 29, grew up near Tel Aviv and paid for her music school fees by winning violin competitions. At age 13 she took a master class with Isaac Stern, the American violin virtuso. After her mandatory two years in the Israeli army, she went to New York and enrolled in Jazz program at New School. She played gigs to survive there, which often meant she skipped classes. After 2 semesters she withdrew. “I failed music,” she says “that really hurt.” Her breakthrough came at a radio station party in 2001. She knew nothing about hip-hop but he crowd went wild. Months later, she appeared as “the Hip-Hop violinist” at Carnegie Hall. She released her first major album in 2005; a follow up is due this year. Now a US citizen, Ben-Ari has not forgotten her roots. She has created a foundation to educate teens about the Nazi genocide. Still, she’s happiest expressing herself with a well-rosined bow: “My violin is my voice.”