The Musicians Behind ARKAI Join the Young Professionals Board

January 3, 2024

In the fall of 2023, Midori & Friends introduced the Young Professionals Board, a remarkable group of young professionals that have proven to be a source of inspiration and leadership for the organization. This group of dedicated young individuals volunteer their time, energy, and talents to strengthen organizational goals and mission. The Young Professionals Board comprises individuals from diverse professional backgrounds, ranging from leaders in the bank and financial worlds to operations specialists at the Recording Academy. Midori & Friends is pleased to introduce two new additions to the Young Professionals Board who have previously contributed to the organization as a performing ensemble through the Celebrate! Music program: Jonathan Miron and Philip Sheegog of the electric-string duo, ARKAI!

ARKAI has been on the Midori & Friends Celebrate! Music roster for over two years. The award-winning electric-string duo has dazzled audiences of students in elementary schools in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx. ARKAI challenges audiences and musicians to push the limits of what a violin and cello can do. The duo fuses classical virtuosity with the electricity of a rock band and encourages students to defy genres and explore new musical possibilities. Click the video below to peek into a Celebrate! Music concert at P.S. 62Q from last year!

 

Jonathan Miron 

Jonathan Miron is an award-winning musician, entrepreneur and educator who has inspired audiences around the world through his genre-defying musicianship and creative vision. As violinist and co-founder of the electroacoustic duo ARKAI, he has opened for Oscar and Grammy-winning musician Jon Batiste and performed at esteemed institutions like The Met, US Air Force Academy, World Trade Center, Lincoln Center, Chateau Marmont, Carnegie Hall and TED. ARKAI’s debut album will be released in 2024 in collaboration with Grammy-winning producer Jonas W. Karlsson. A graduate of The Juilliard School,  Jonathan recently joined the 2023 voting member class of The Recording Academy. Jonathan is a NS Design Artist.

Music education has made me who I am today. From the time I started playing violin at the age of 4, I have been guided by incredible mentors and programs that helped me develop a musical & technical foundation that has shaped my musicianship and artistic expression. Through my band ARKAI, I am fortunate to have a career where I am able to share my art with the world through performance and workshops year-round, all in service of cultivating the next generation of music lovers and inspiring them to dream big. 

– Jonathan Miron, Young Professionals Board

Philip Sheegog

Cellist and producer Philip Sheegog pushes the boundaries of musical genre with a technical versatility, fearless commitment, and extroverted generosity that have made him a sought-out collaborator on all ends of the artistic spectrum. A champion for musical innovation, Sheegog’s distinctive aesthetic draws upon the sonic traditions and technical vocabulary of myriad musical styles, ranging from classical to metal to folk to EDM. He has premiered over eighty new works by living composers and collaborated with such disparate groups as the legendary 1970’s Steve Miller Band, members of the GRAMMY-award winning Turtle Island String Quartet, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Sheegog is half of the award-winning electroacoustic duo ARKAI and holds his degrees from The Juilliard School.

The music education and mentorship that I received as a young artist were vital to my development not only as a musician, but more importantly as a well-rounded, curious, and disciplined human being. Music education was a corollary to life, and the foundations laid in my earliest years continue to undergird and empower my artistry to this day.

– Philip Sheegog, Young Professionals Board

 

Click here to meet the rest of the talented Young Professionals Board.