Ernest Bisong

Ernest Bisong is a violinist, composer, educator, and teaching artist. Introduced to the violin at age nine in Nigeria, he has studied with several notable tutors and performers including Rachel Barton-Pine (American violinist), Sir Godfrey Amoah (Ghanaian violinist), Louis Jones (British violinist), Agnes Nagy (Hungarian cellist), and Thomas Kanitz (cellist of the Reger String Quartet and Dortmund Symphony). In July 2013, he became the first Nigerian to obtain performance diploma certification from the Associate Board of the Royal Schools of Music in London with a distinction. He has a master’s in violin performance from the McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul Minnesota where he studied with Randy Sabien (jazz violin), Daria T. Adams (violinist with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra), and Pete Whitman (saxophonist). He holds K-12 teaching licensure and a Master’s in Education from the from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul MN.

Ernest performed at the African Leadership Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with the illustrious Bez (2011). He performed as part of the Nigerian contingent at the African Showcase of the SXSW in Austin, TX (2012). He’s opened for Richard Bona, Mike Stern, Marcus Johnson, Marsha Ambrosius, and Anita Baker. Ernest is a member of Minneapolis String Project, a high-energy string trio of violin, cello, and guitar which deviates from the standard repertoire of classical or bluegrass instruments and instead draws from jazz, fusion, rock, soul, folk, and Brazilian music influences. This group’s EP, Stone Arch Strings, was released in 2019.