Creative Strings Showcase

This summer, the annual Creative Strings Workshop & Festival returns to Black Mountain, NC, bringing together world-class bowed string musicians for two weeks of inspiring music, collaboration, and education. Led by Asheville-based internationally recognized violinist and educator Christian Howes, the program runs June 22–July 3 and welcomes 40 violin, viola, cello, and string players for an immersive experience of clinics, rehearsals, masterclasses, and creative workshops.
The Creative Strings Showcase features more than 20 talented workshop musicians performing solos and ensemble works for violin, viola, and cello. A vibrant evening highlighting creativity, collaboration, and emerging artistry.

About Creative Strings and founder Christian Howes
Jazz violinist and educator Christian Howes has won awards in Downbeat, Jazz Times, the Jazz Journalist Association, Chamber Music America, and the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation. He founded “Creative Strings“, a 501 (c) (3) organization with a mission to expand music education through online curriculum, annual summer retreats/festivals, and outreach in k-12 schools nationwide.
The Creative Strings Workshop and Festival began in Columbus, Ohio in 2001, and continued until 2020 when COVID disrupted live events. Satellite locations were held before 2020 in numerous locations including Madrid, Dallas, NYC, and Boulder. An annual festival is also held in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 2017 Howes brought a smaller version of the event home to the Asheville area, where he’s lived since 2015. The smaller version of the event invites up to 20 participants. Said Howes, “I look forward to building the festival and workshop components of this event over the next few years in ways that will serve the local community”.