Stephen Waarts was a Stephen Waartsyoung violinist when he began gigging around the Bay Area a few
years ago (after winning the top prize at the Mondavi Center Young Artist’s Competition in
2008). Now that he is merely a young soloist, at 16 years old, he may have passed his prodigy
years. That would probably make him happy: He is now a student at the Curtis Institute in
Philadelphia (having graduated high school at 14) and will settle for simply being a stirring and
sensitive musician. Music fans in the Sacramento Valley, and even a little farther away might
want to make time for his recital at the Vanderhoef Studio Theater at the Mondavi Center at
UC Davis. Undoubtedly, the best is yet to come for this fine musician, but the present is worth
paying attention to as well.
Michael Zwiebach is the senior editor/content manager for SFCV. He assigns all articles and content, manages the writing staff, and does editing. A member of SFCV from the beginning, Michael holds a Ph.D. in music history from the University of California, Berkeley.
