The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola, cello, and double bass.

The violin is sometimes informally called a fiddle, regardless of the type of music played on it. The word violin comes from the Medieval Latin word vitula, meaning stringed instrument; this word is also believed to be the source of the Germanic "fiddle". The violin, while it has ancient origins, acquired most of its modern characteristics in 16th-century Italy, with some further modifications occurring in the 18th and 19th centuries. Violinists and collectors particularly prize the instruments made by the Gasparo da Salò, Giovanni Paolo Maggini, Stradivari, Guarneri and Amati families from the 16th to the 18th century in Brescia and Cremona and by Jacob Stainer in Austria. Great numbers of instruments have come from the hands of "lesser" makers, as well as still greater numbers of mass-produced commercial "trade violins" coming from cottage industries in places such as Saxony, Bohemia, and Mirecourt. Many of these trade instruments were formerly sold by Sears, Roebuck and Co. and other mass merchandisers.

Lindsey Stirling (born on September 21, 1986) is an American violinist, musician, dancer, performance artist, and composer. In 2010 she competed on the fifth season of America's Got Talent. Stirling is noted for her versatility performing music from country to hip hop.

At the age of 23 Stirling was a quarter-finalist on the fifth season of America's Got Talent where she was known as the ‘Hip Hop Violinist’. After Stirling's performance, Sharon Osbourne said, "Wow... we love you Lindsey!” and Piers Morgan called her performance "Electrifying!".

At the age of 5, after being influenced by the classic music records played by her father, Stirling requested the opportunity to learn and play the violin.

Stirling was classically trained through private lessons for 12 years. When she was 16, she joined a rock band with four friends called Stomp on Melvin. As part of her experience with Stomp on Melvin, Stirling wrote a solo violin rock song, and her performance helped her to win both the title of Arizona’s Jr. Miss in 2005 and the talent category of the National Jr. Miss Pageant. As of May 2, 2012, Stirling is 5'3" tall.

Ivry Gitlis (Hebrew: עברי גיטליס‎; born Haifa, August 25, 1922) is an Israeli violinist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. He has performed with the world's top orchestras (New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Israel Philharmonic), and many of his recordings are considered classics.

Born in Haifa, Palestine Mandate, to Jewish immigrants from Russia, Gitlis studied violin at an early age. When violinist Bronisław Huberman first heard him play, he sent him to study at the Conservatoire de Paris, where Gitlis won a first prize, aged 13. His teachers include Carl Flesch, George Enescu, and Jacques Thibaud. In 1951, Gitlis made his debut in Paris.

His first recording, Concerto à la mémoire d'un ange by Alban Berg, won the Grand Prix du Disque in France.

In 1968 he participated in John Lennon's Dirty Mac project on The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus program.

In 1971 Bruno Maderna wrote Piece for Ivry for him.

In 1990 Gitlis was designated UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. His stated aim is the "support of education and culture of peace and tolerance".

Maxim Alexandrovich Vengerov (Russian: Максим Александрович Венгеров, born August 20, 1974) is a violinist, violist, and conductor who was born in the Soviet Union.

Vengerov was born on 20 August 1974 in Novosibirsk, Russia, to a Jewish family with musical tradition. At the age of 5, he began studying the violin with Borbala Hwang, and two years later – with Zakhar Bron. 1984 saw the 10-year-old Maxim go abroad for the first time; in Lublin, Poland, he won the first place at the International Karol Lipiński and Henryk Wieniawski Young Violin Player Competition (years later, he recalled, "I thought Poland was somewhere at the end of the world. One does not forget such trips; no wonder I always remember Poland very fondly…"). When Bron left Russia in 1987 to teach at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, Vengerov and his mother followed him there, and did so again after Bron moved to Lübeck to open a school there.

In 1990, Vengerov proved his extraordinary talent with victory at the International Carl Flesch Competition in London. At the time, he had already studied with Z. Bron in London and Lübeck. His public appearances – both solo and with orchestras – at major European music venues sparked interest of major record labels (to date, he has recorded close to 100 compositions or cycles) and music magazines. Numerous recording prizes and “Artist of the Year” titles (incl. one from Gramophone) followed, as did the celebrated Grammy Award, Edison Award (for the recording of Shostakovich Second Concerto), and the highly prestigious “Echo Klassik” annual distinction awarded to him by the German Television in 2003 (for recital feat. compositions by J. S. Bach).

Taylor Davis (born 1959) is a noted American sculptor, known for her innovative plywood sculptures. Davis has been a Professor at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design since 1999, and is also the co-chair of the sculpture program at Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College. In fall 2008, she was a visiting faculty at Department of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University. She earned a Diploma of Fine Arts at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts; a Bachelor of Science degree in Education at Tufts University; and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College. Her work has been widely shown across the United States and Davis was included in the Whitney Biennial in 2004.

Taylor Davis has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including a prestigious residential fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University in 2010–2011. She also won the Association of International Art Critics Award in 2007 and 2002; the St Botolph Foundation Grant in 2003, the Institute of Contemporary Art Artist Prize in 2001, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant in 1999.