Christian Howes

Christian Howes treats the violin like a conversation starter rather than a statement piece. He's as comfortable teaching in a high school orchestra room as he is on stage, and has spent years figuring out how to help string players speak jazz, blues, and whatever else wants to come out. Through his nonprofit Creative Strings, he's created hundreds of free lessons that prove you don't need a pedigree to improvise—just curiosity and a willingness to sound weird for a while. He plays like someone who believes the instrument has more to say than we've let it.