Why do so many great violinists also become composers? This course will explore the fascinating legacy of violinist-composers, including Baroque virtuosos like Heinrich Biber, Romantic legends like Niccolò Paganini, and 20th century innovators like George Enescu and Grazyna Bacewicz. Through listening and discussing, we will examine how these artists wrote music tailored to their instruments and themselves. Taught by a professional violinist, this course offers a behind-the-strings look at how performance and composition intertwine. Ilana Zaks, professional violinist, educator, and multidisciplinary artist, is First Violin with the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera. A graduate of the New England Conservatory and Yale School of Music, she studied under renowned violinists Donald Weilerstein and Ani Kavafian and spent nearly a decade working with Itzhak Perlman through the Perlman Music Program. Recently appointed to the Boston University Tanglewood Institute faculty, Zaks is passionate about connecting audiences to music through storytelling, performance, and dialogue.