biography
Dr. Edward W. Hardy (born January 12, 1992) is a DownBeat Award-winning, critically acclaimed Black and Puerto Rican composer, music director, virtuoso violinist, and violist, and is one of the foremost exponents of solo violin repertoire for theatrical productions. Hardy made his Carnegie Hall debut as a solo violinist in 2024, performing in Sho Kuon's recital, The Music of Sho Kuon, a milestone performance that underscored his reputation in contemporary classical music. In total, Dr. Hardy has performed at Carnegie Hall 30 times, including his solo debut and numerous performances with various orchestras and ensembles.
At the age of 25, "Hardy [was] one of the youngest composers to ever be accepted into the Exploring the Metropolis Con Edison Composer Residency and one of the most prominent composer/ violinists in New York City" (BroadwayWorld). “Edward W. Hardy, who composed the omnipresent music, plays the violin superbly” (The New York Times). He has “Vigor, Control And Expressiveness," (The Post and Courier), is “Mesmerizing” (Manhattan With A Twist), and also performs in a style that is serene, dreamy, and soulful with velvety panache (The Millbrook Independent).
As the composer, music director and violinist of the smash hit Off-Broadway show The Woodsman, Hardy’s show was a recipient of the 2016 Obie Award, the 2014 Jim Henson Foundation Grant and was broadcast on PBS stations four separate times, streamed on BroadwayHD and major music producer Jim McElwaine produced Hardy’s album The Woodsman (Original Off-Broadway Solo Recording) which continues to be sold and streamed in countries such as the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Russia, Turkey, France, Hong Kong, Argentina, Ireland, and Germany.
Currently, Hardy's discography contains 8 singles, 1 album, and his list of original compositions include works for solo violin, voice, harp, piano, string quartet, string trio, string duo, Latin ensemble, and soundtracks for film and stage. He has research in non-traditional string techniques and beyond his history of premiering contemporary works, his dissertation, "A Compendium of Three Musical Works Inspired by the African American Experience: Recordings, Commentary, and Pedagogical Observations," was published in May 2024. Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts commissioned Hardy's song cycle, BORN FREE (Sorrow Home, Lineage, The Struggle Staggers Us, and Southern Song) and premiered the work as part of their 2022 UNTRAPPED series with soprano Tiffany Townsend and pianist Alex Munger. Also in 2022, Hardy's Latin piece Flying - Dancing in Spanish Harlem was performed by Jazz legend Andre Hayward and his band, along with Hardy, at the Austin Chamber Music Festival.
In 2023, Hardy completed a United States tour with the Griot String Quartet in Damien Sneed's Our Song, Our Story, an evening of operatic arias, art songs, and spirituals featuring Met Opera singers Justin Austin, Jacqueline Echols, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Janinah Burnett, Amanda Lynn Bottoms, and Raven McMillon, accompanied by Sneed on piano. This tour concluded with a recording of Sneed’s second full project for Apple Music in London. Hardy is featured as the violist on multiple tracks from the 2025 album Our Song, Our Story, released internationally through Platoon—including There Is A Balm In Gilead (Arr. for String Quartet, Piano & Voice by Damien Sneed), The Opera Is Complete (from Scott Joplin: The Entertainer), Five Songs of Laurence Hope: No. 5, Till I Wake (Arr. by Damien Sneed), and I Dream A World.
Also in 2023, Hardy had the honor of closing the 2022-2023 Capitol Hill Concert series with a sold-out, solo violin, multi-genre, season finale concert at the First Unitarian Society of Denver, accompanied by pianist Jordan Ortman and soprano Courtney Caston in the Colorado premiere of Hardy's BORN FREE song cycle. This concert set a new record at Capitol Hill Concerts for the most donations raised for a nonprofit (El Sistema Colorado) in the history of its concert series. Later that year, Hardy performed a 30-minute multi-genre solo violin program for 5000 people at the Classical Theatre of Harlem’s “Young, Gifted, And Black” concert as part of Bryant Park's Picnic Performances. To date, Hardy has performed in three of Bryan Carter’s presentations at Jazz at Lincoln Center and has recorded and released new jazz arrangements with French pianist John Lander.
Dr. Edward W. Hardy has received numerous awards. Most recently, he was named a winner of The Knot Best of Weddings 2025 and the 2025 WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Awards® (he also won these awards in 2023). In 2024, he received third prize with his song cycle BORN FREE in the Angie Southard Performance Competition, a DownBeat Award for Graduate College Outstanding Performance in the Blues/Pop/Rock Soloist category, and a Merit Award from Tribeca New Music for his solo violin composition Evolution - Inspired by the Evolution of Black Music. In 2022, he won first prize in the University of Northern Colorado Concerto Competition and second prize in the Angie Southard Performance Competition. He also earned third prize in the 2021 GCC Best Chopin Performance (5th Edition).
Hardy also has an extensive performance history ranging from solo violin performances for the Congressional Black Caucus/ opening of the African-American Smithsonian Museum, Hublot, MAC Cosmetics, Haute Living, special performances for rap legends 50 Cent, Nas, Justin Bieber, Hailey Bieber, Usher, Russell Westbrook, Kehlani, and legendary hockey player Alexander Ovechkin, to sharing the stage with other famous artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Leslie Odom Jr.Maxim Vengerov, Cécile McLorin Salvant, D-Nice, Salt-N-Pepa, Bunb B, Baby Cham, Scarface, 702, Mike Phillips, Lloyd, Israel Houghton, Kenny Burns, Kygo, André De Shields, Brandie Sutton, Regina Carter, Norm Lewis, Joshua Bell, John Blake Jr., Mark O'Connor, Radmila Lolly, Graham Reynolds, the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Jeffrey Zeigler, Curtis Stewart, Sandbox Percussion, the Attacca Quartet, Tamar-kali, and Dr. Ashley Jackson. In 2024, Dr. Hardy served as music curator and solo violinist for the MCCA Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2025, Hardy was featured in Vogue Magazine and Getty Images as a violinist performing at the Met Gala: “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.”
In addition to his musical career, Hardy made his New York Fashion Week 2025 debut as both a runway model for Alonso Maximo and a featured violinist for Yesi Rose’s showcase, where he performed live as models—including Miss Universe 2024 Victoria Kjær Theilvig—walked the runway. "Dr. Edward W. Hardy delivered a mesmerizing live performance, adding a melodic backdrop to the visual spectacle. His presence not only elevated the show’s ambiance but also highlighted the symbiotic relationship between fashion and music." (Premiering Now).
Performance venues include Carnegie Hall, The John F. Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Avery Fisher Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, Sheldon Concert Hall, WQXR, The Greene Space, The Apollo Theater, Wheeler Opera House, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Museum of Natural History, Charleston Museum, The Cutting Room, The Public Theater's Joe's Pub, Amanyara, New York City Center, Bryant Park, Caramoor, Edison Ballroom, Studio Museum in Harlem, and many others.
Dr. Hardy is a proud member of the American Composers Orchestra, the Harlem Chamber Players, Local 802 Musicians Union, the Dramatist Guild of America, ASCAP, the Liberated Artist Collective, and is affiliated with the Classical Theatre of Harlem, the Sphinx Organization, Exploring the Metropolis, the Gateways Music Festival, Carnegie Hall/ Weill Music Institute, and the Colorado American Strings Teachers Association. He is also the founder and artistic director of the Omnipresent Music Festival - BIPOC Musicians Festival, the co-founder/past senior director of operations of the Northern Colorado Center for Arts Entrepreneurship, and the previous digital marketing director and artistic advisor of the Beethoven in the Rockies Concert Series. Over the past decade, Hardy held violin teaching/ performing residencies and, as a visiting artist, gave masterclasses and lectures at numerous music programs and universities spanning New York City to Los Angeles, California. Hardy holds a Bachelor’s degree in viola performance from SUNY Purchase College where he studied with Ira Weller and Danielle Farina, a Master’s degree in violin performance from Aaron Copland School of Music - Queens College where his teacher was Daniel Phillips, and a Doctor of Arts degree in violin performance from the University of Northern Colorado under the mentorship of Dr. Jubal Fulks.
Hardy owns and performs on "The Black Violin", made by Guy Rabut in 1995. He also frequently plays on Craig Danner's violins named "Eddie" and "Cecilia," both crafted in 2022.