Mike Block

Hailed by Yo-Yo Ma as the “ideal musician of the 21st Century”, Mike Block is a pioneering multi-genre cellist living in New York City. While studying at the Juilliard School, Mike joined Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, and upon graduation in 2006, joined Grammy Award winner Mark O’Connor in his Appalachia Waltz Trio. Mike also plays in Darol Anger's Republic of Strings, and many other projects, including the Absolute Ensemble, and The Knights. ****
Mike is the Lead Teaching Artist for Silk Road Connect, a partnership between the New York Department of Education and the Silk Road Project that brings musicians from around the world into the 6th grade classes of many NYC public schools. Mike is also the director of the Mike Block String Camp in Vero Beach, Florida, with a goal of empowering students to compose, arrange, learn, and perform music by ear, with instruction in multiple styles. ****
Mike's personal projects include the Mike Block Band and the Triboro Trio. The band features Mike as singer, cellist and composer, in a mixture of original songs and instrumentals drawing upon multiple genres. The trio features unique arrangements of traditional and contemporary music from around the world. **** As a composer, Mike’s pieces have been performed at the Bremen MusikFest, Tribeca New Music Festival, the MATA Festival and the Kimmel Center series "Fresh Ink". ****
Mike also co-created Kreol, a software that turns your computer into a musical instrument that you play by typing www.KreolMusic.com. **** Mike is also an endorser of D'ADDARIO bowed string products.****
More detailed info about Mike and his activities can be found at www.BlockBlockBlockBlock.com.