The Old Violinist

The violinist is the concertmaster of the symphony orchestra.
He is the featured soloist among the bluegrass musicians.
She is the lead voice in the string quartet.
He is the musician who makes
The Electric Light Orchestra distinctive as a rock band,
Quintette Du Hot Club De France unique as a jazz combo, and
Mahavishnu Orchestra singular as a fusion group.

It was said of President Thomas Jefferson that he could
"calculate an eclipse, survey an estate, tie an artery, plan an edifice,
try a cause, break a horse, dance a minuet, and play the violin."

Here are some other fiddlers who are elsewise known:

Richard Nixon, U. S. president
Albert Einstein, German physicist
Paul Klee, Swiss-German painter
Jayne Mansfield, American actress
Davy Crockett, American frontiersman
Charlie Chaplin, English actor & filmmaker
Larry Fine, fellow stooge to Moe and Curly
Marlene Dietrich, German-American actress
Sherlock Holmes,* British consulting detective
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, Roman Emperor

*Actually Holmes is fictional.
You knew that, right?

~ FURTHER READING ~

I was on a concert tour (as a trombonist, before
studying violin) when I met Moses Swindler, photographer.
It was 1975, the year he invented glamour photography.
But his other claim to fame—an "old-time" photo studio
in Estes Park, Colorado—was already in full swing.
Even around town Moses dressed in vintage clothing.
He knew how to do gunspinning tricks, and he demonstrated
some of them to the guys who wanted to pose as cowboys.
Paid him the huge sum of $4 to photograph me as a violinist.
As part of my preparation for the shoot, I felt it necessary
to restyle my afro hairstyle into a suitable 1880s do!
Thankfully it only took about forty-five minutes to
reshape it for the band's performance that afternoon.
Saw him later after supper at a dude ranch, where
he was decked out as a south-of-the-border bandito.
(I'm sure you noticed that the old violin had a string missing!)