Samir Robinson, Violinist

 For the last three years my journey has been a little different than the rest. My dream was to always attend a premiere institution and study violin performance. In 2016, I was accepted into the Primavera Fund. This changed the trajectory of my life incredibly. They provided things like full financial assistance for private lessons, summer festivals, masterclasses, and even an instrument that I could call my own. One year later, I was able to travel with the Temple Prep Center for Gifted musicians orchestra to Iceland as we toured and played concerts for nine days. All of this was made possible by the Primavera Fund. Being a part of this program has given me life long friendships and has equipped me with the tools that I will use on my journey ahead.  

During the summer of 2017, I formed a duo called “Onyxviolins” that eventually changed my perspective on the music that I was playing. I also took a liking in fashion, which ended up operating in my favor. Working with many notable people such as superstar painter Kehinde Wiley, former CEO of Ford Models Katie Ford, and American Fashion Designer Lela Rose were beyond my belief. Appearances from Times Square to Vogue Magazine have been some of the biggest accomplishments of my career. Campaigns with Selfridges and Banana Republic were also some of my favorites. This created another lane for me just to exist as a creative. 

Since 2017, I auditioned at schools all along the east coast, Midwest and abroad but I just wasn’t lucky enough. At the start of 2020 I thought to take one last shot at auditioning at one last school, this time Berklee College of Music. There I played a very confident live audition, but just a few days later I was notified that I didn’t get in. By this point I was devastated. When COVID arrived, this took a toll on the world and even with my partnership as Onyxviolins. The result of this was an upsetting separation. Having been able to sit down and think about where I wanted my career to go during COVID, I thought to myself “Be your own artist”. I began to take classes for music production at the Community College of Philadelphia. Being able to produce my own music would make me free to create whatever and whenever I want. In the fall, Rachel Segal of the Primavera Fund forwarded me an article stating that Grammy recording artist and business mogul Jay Z was opening a school in the fall of 2021. Intrigued but not the least excited, I applied not thinking to stand a chance. With a little patience and faith, I was accepted into the inaugural class at the Rocnation School of Music, Sports and Entertainment. Even greater news, I will be a collaborative musician at this year’s New York Fashion Week this coming September!