Steve Kindler - ,An internationally recognized violin virtuoso, composer, the first one to play the 9 string electric violin, lecturer, expert on bowed instruments. His violin combines the sound of all four members of the string family, as well as the piccolo violin. He was a member of John McLaughlin's fusion band, Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Kindler has also toured and recorded with Jan Hammer, Jeff Beck, and Kitaro. Kindler's smooth yet impassioned violin improvisations are the perfect vehicle for his own highly melodic compositions, combining classical, jazz, rock, and ethnic influences. In addition, `2Kindler is a member of Barefoot, a co-op world-music dance group.

He began his career in music at 10 years old playing with the Portland Youth Philharmonic, and by 14 was touring internationally with the orchestra. At 16 he received a scholarship to study at Tanglewood institute under the batons of Leonard Bernstein, Seigi Ozawa, and studied privately with Eugene Lehner and Roman Totenberg. At 18, he was invited to join the inovative Jazz Fusion ensemble The Mahavishnu Orchestra where he played with greats John McLaughlin, Jean Luc Ponty and Narada Michael Waldon. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.