Stephen Tavani

Violinist Stephen Tavani joined The Cleveland Orchestra as Assistant Concertmaster in 2018. The New York Times commented about his playing that “...Tavani sometimes cooled his tone to the smoothness of frosted glass, adding a soft-focus filter to the chiseled melodies..." Mr. Tavani has been featured with the Cleveland Orchestra playing Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 2, as well as Rismky Korsakov’s Scheherazade. He has appeared as guest concertmaster with the Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, and Louisiana Philharmonic, and before joining the Cleveland Orchestra, he was concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. He has performed as soloist with the Youngstown Symphony, the Orchestra of the Americas, and at the MasterWorks festival with conductors Carlos Miguel Prieto, Andrew Litton, Delta David Gier, and Miriam Burns.

An avid chamber musician, Tavani has collaborated with many great musicians, such as Edgar Meyer, members of Quatuor Ébène, Roberto Díaz, Peter Wiley, Paul Katz, Shai Wosner, Meng-Chieh Liu, Jon Kimura Parker, Ronald Leonard, Clive Greensmith, Marcy Rosen, José Franch-Ballester, and Daniel Hope. He has appeared at the Dresden Music Festival, Music From Angel Fire, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Colburn Chamber Music Society, Curtis Recital Series, and at the Marlboro Music Festival as well as on tour with Musicians from Marlboro. He is also a founding member of the Blossom Quartet, which includes Cleveland Orchestra musicians Yun-Ting Lee, William Bender, and Dane Johansen. The Quartet performs regularly on local Cleveland chamber music series, and has performed internationally as well. 

Tavani currently is on violin faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and also has taught masterclasses at conservatories in Spain and Germany.

Tavani has appeared at the Sibelius International Violin Competition in Helsinki, the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, and the Michael Hill Violin Competition in New Zealand. Tavani holds an Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Ida Kavafian and Arnold Steinhardt. While at Curtis, he held the Dorothy J. del Bueno Fellowship. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles, where he studied with Robert Lipsett. He also received an Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he worked with William Preucil in the Concertmaster Academy program. Other previous teachers include Aaron Rosand, Shirley Givens, and Ronda Cole. He plays on a W.E. Hill & Sons bow generously loaned by Tom Frisina.

Tavani volunteers bringing string programs to Northeast Ohio inmates with the Cleveland based Renovare to help provide hope and healing through music. He also is involved with the MasterWorks Festival, which seeks to integrate Christian faith and life in the performing arts. Tavani resides on the East Side of Cleveland with his wife Amanda, a double bassist and music educator, and their two young sons. He grew up in Northern Virginia in a musical family of six brothers, his mother being a voice teacher and lyric soprano, and his father a family physician and pianist. Learn more about Mr. Tavani at his website: stephentavani.com, and visit his youtube page at youtube.com/stavani1 to see many of his performances.

Apply Now 

Students may apply to study with Professor Tavani through an expedited application process here. Students accepted into new Conservatory degree programs with these teachers will receive a minimum guaranteed scholarship award of $30,000 for the 2026-27 school year.