Joseph Christianson is active as a session violinist and teacher in Nashville, Tennessee. For seven years he was a member of Quartet San Francisco, a pioneering non-classical crossover chamber ensemble. The quartet’s album Raymond Scott Reimagined received a 2024 Grammy nomination. He serves on the faculty of Belmont University as instructor of commercial violin.

He has collaborated with artists including Postmodern Jukebox, Steven Curtis Chapman, Augustin Hadelich, Tower of Power, Take 6 and Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. He has performed at festivals including Outside Lands, Cabrillo Contemporary Music Festival, Cremona Music Festival, ASEAN Festival (in Nanning, China), Colorado College Summer Music Festival, and Castleton Festival with Lorin Maazel.

Joseph has performed with Nashville Symphony, Berkeley Symphony and San Francisco Chamber Orchestra. He is active as a session violinist for Nashville Scoring Orchestra, Zimmitti Music Group, Skywalker Symphony Orchestra, and Magik*Magik Orchestra.

Joseph grew up in San Luis Obispo, CA and studied at Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and San Francisco Conservatory. He has received a B.M. and M.M. in violin performance. His mentors include Nina Bodnar, Axel Strauss, Bettina Mussumeli, Catherine van Hoesen and Herbert Greenberg.

With over 15 years of experience as a violin instructor, Joseph maintains a busy teaching schedule in the Nashville area. Joseph is certified in both the Suzuki Method and O’Connor Method of violin pedagogy. His students’ accomplishments include winning/placing in competitions including the Northern California Young Talents Competition, winning auditions for California All-State Orchestra, and admission to schools including Cornell, Dartmouth, and USC.