Fiddler

Nathan Bishop is a fiddler, improviser, and teacher based in Philadelphia. An eclectic performer, he plays violin and viola in his genre-hopping string trio, Midnight on the Water, manic/depressive folk trio, Faoileán, experimental Irish traditional duo the Given Note, and baroque ensemble La Fiocco. He has music directed for Mariner Theatrical and JoAnna Mendl Shaw’s the Equus Project, pairing live fiddle with self-composed soundscapes to accompany dance and theater works. He was an artist-in-residence at the Mignolo Arts Center (2022) and at Fallingwater (2026). He co-founded and ran When Waves Collide, a new music and dance festival, for three years and currently co-hosts free movement/sound jams in NYC and Philadelphia alongside contemporary mover Madelyn Wansong. His work with Faoileán has received over 1M listens across streaming platforms and he recorded with GRAMMY award winners Jay Ungar & Molly Mason in 2026 as part of Midnight on the Water’s first record. He has presented workshops on playing and teaching the fiddle at the University of New Hampshire, Lafayette College, and NJASTA and often teaches at Folk College and the Ashokan Center. A Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts graduate, he studied fiddle with Cleek Schrey and plays on the 46th Håkedal hardanger d’amore. He frequently performs around the mid-Atlantic with Irish bouzouki player Eamon Kelly and is obsessed with his cat, Fido.