Dr. Heather Martin Bixler
Violin & Viola Faculty
Heather Martin Bixler is a classical violinist and Irish fiddler whose playing has been described by critics as “emotionally riveting” and “astonishingly musical and sweet.” A graduate of Indiana University, The Juilliard School, and the University of Memphis where she received a doctorate in music degree, she has performed in many major concert halls, such as Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, and Musikverein in Vienna.
As a recording artist Bixler was a featured soloist on the Grammy nominated CD Forty Acres and a Burro (Zoho Music, 2011). She also can be heard on Auction Project also on the Zoho Record label which merges traditional Irish tunes with jazz. This recording has been praised in the press for its innovation and excellence in its emotional content and technical display. Auction Project was awarded four stars in DownBeat magazine in January 2011, and was chosen as Best Fusion CD of 2010 in the Irish Echo. Alex Henderson wrote in ALLMUSIC that “...this is an intriguing effort that lovers of experimental world jazz shouldn't overlook.”
In 1992 Bixler won a first violin position in the Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona in Spain and since then has held concertmaster positions with South Dakota Symphony and Orquesta Sinfonica de la Mineria in Mexico City and Garden State Philharmonic in New Jersey. In New York, she has worked as a substitute violinist with orchestras including The New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, American Symphony, and many Broadway show orchestras. In addition, she has appeared on such singers’ videos as Maria Carey, Shania Twain, Jewel, and Donna Summer, including an appearance on the Rosie O'Donnell Show with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
As an Irish musician, Bixler won the bronze medal for the senior slow airs at the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil in Donegal, Ireland in 2006. She is also in demand as a performer and teacher of Irish music at various festivals throughout the United States, Canada, and Ireland. Bixler performs regularly with musicians such as Jimmy Crowley, Donie Carroll, Ciaran Sheehan, and Gabriel Donohue as well as being the guest on several prominent Irish musicians’ solo recordings.
Pursuing her interest in studying the effect that music has on the brain, Bixler completed Bachelor of Science degree in neuroscience at Columbia University in 2021 where she was awarded the Dean Peter J. Awn Scholarship, the Joey O'Loughlin Academic Scholarship, and upon graduation, the Jennifer A. Pack Prize for excellence in the study of neuroscience and behavior as the best student overall in the School of General Studies of her graduating class. After graduation she worked as a research assistant, recently completing a two-year ground-breaking study of the effect of neurotoxins on neurodegenerative diseases in the department of Environmental Health at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Currently, she lives in New York with her husband jazz saxophonist David Bixler, performing and teaching violin.