Discography

Rillito River Project

Patmore Lewis

Patmore Lewis was born in St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. As a boy, he sang and played piano and organ in church. Growing up in the home of his father's sister, a formidable disciplinarian, he took up the violin as an act of rebellion, soon gaining recognition through the Caribbean for his skills on that instrument. Today, he plays upward of 100 performances a year as an associate in the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera. At the same time, he keeps up his career as a soloist and chamber musician in the United States and Europe. Since his Carnegie Hall recital debut in November 1992, Pat has appeared on live radio broadcasts on NPR, nationally with the incomparable Jessye Norman, as well as with Henry Threadgill's Jazz Windstring Ensemble. When the Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired a rare Amati violin for display, Pat was selected to perform for specially invited patrons. He has also performed at New York's Town Hall, The Kitchen, Soho Galleries, the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, Merkin Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd Street Y, the Library of Congress. and Summer Stage in Central Park. To the astonishment of his colleagues in the classical camp, Pat is much sought after by top artists in hip-hop as a studio musician, sideman, and songwriter. Though he has studied the violin concertos of Sibelius, Elgar, and Korngold, and has them performance-ready, he has not yet had the pleasure of playing them in the concert hall. "Without pretending to his stature, I feel I might be a modern equivalent of Art Tatum, who knew all the classical repertoire from listening to the radio," Pat says. "It was his greatest dream to play a classical concerto, and he never got to. I hope the same doesn't
happen to me."