Josh Modney

New York-based violinist Josh Modney has specialized in contemporary music, performing with several different groups that have commissioned numerous new works. He has been sought out for collaborations by top composers in both the U.S. and abroad. Modney was born on May 8, 1985, and grew up in the Albany, New York area. He attended Ithaca College, earning a bachelor's degree in music, and went on for a master's degree in contemporary performance at the Manhattan School of Music. Modney co-founded the Mivos Quartet in 2008, building a wide reputation with that group's performances at contemporary music festivals as far afield as China. He departed in 2016 under the pressure of growing commitments to two new groups: the Wet Ink Ensemble, for which he serves as executive director as well as performing, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Modney's repertory extends as far back as the music of Bach, whose sonatas and partitas for solo violin he has performed in just intonation. He maintains a general interest in intonation and in the psychoacoustic properties of music. Most of his performances have been of contemporary music, often brand-new, and he has worked closely in what he terms deep collaboration with major composers including Kaija Saariaho, Eric Wubbels, Kate Soper, Andrew Greenwald, Christian Wolff, Helmut Lachenmann, and George Lewis. Modney has also played improvised chamber music. His recording credits began in 2007 with an appearance on an album by R&B artists Lumidee, and with contemporary ensembles he has appeared on albums on the Ex Cathedra, Deutsche Grammophon, Tzadik, and Sacred Bones labels. In 2018 he made his solo debut with Engage, a three-disc set on the New Focus label, offering solo performance of music by Bach, Sam Pluta, Taylor Brook, Soper, Anthony Braxton, and Modney himself. The influential contemporary music critic Alex Ross has called Modney a "multitasking virtuoso." ~ James Manheim