Miri Ben-Ari (Hebrew: מירי בן-ארי; born (1978-12-04)4 December 1978) is an Israeli–American violinist, record producer, music-tech entrepreneur, and humanitarian. As of 2025, she is the first and only violinist to win a Grammy in the Hip Hop category, known as "the hip-hop violinist".
Life and career
Ben-Ari was born and raised in Tel Aviv District, Israel. She grew up playing classical music; she started training at age 5 and at age 12, she was presented with a violin by Isaac Stern. During her mandatory military service, she served playing for the Israel Defense Forces Orchestra (IDF's Orchestra). During her stint in the Israeli military, she heard an album by Charlie Parker and immediately fell in love with jazz; she later said "My soul was sold." Following her service, she moved from Israel to New York in hopes of using her classical training on stage and attended the Jazz department at The New School, but was expelled after two semesters due to poor attendance caused by Ben-Ari playing gigs to pay the rent. She released her first solo CD, Sahara, in 1999. Her persistence earned her an appearance on BET's 106 & Park; the viewer response netted her a return visit a few weeks...
Extract from Wikipedia: “Miri Ben-Ari” (CC BY-SA 4.0).