John Knudson, aka “Johny K”, began his life as a professional musician in Brigham City and Cache Valley, Utah. While he was a child in Brigham City, he loved to play the violin and viola and thanks to the unending support of his parents he has had an incredible career in music.

He has spent more than 35 years traveling across the United States, starting at the age of five, showcasing his talents at prominent venues including the White House, Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Galleries, and 911 Memorial. He has had the honor of performing for the last four U.S. Presidents, as well as the Presidential inaugural balls for Clinton, Obama and Bush and performed for Donald J. Trump at his New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

He has been featured on Platinum Weddings for the Oprah Winfrey Show and shared the stage with Aretha Franklin, Bon Jovi, Alabama, Lee Greenwood, Billy Joel, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Marvin Goldstein, CaraNua and Jason Tonioli. The list of rock and pop artists he has performed with is longer than can fit on a resume.

He has also accompanied the great Soviet American dancer and actor Mikhail Baryshnikov at the grand opening of Federal prison-turned Workhouse Art Center in Lorton, Virginia.

John returned to to Utah in 2013 to marry his childhood sweetheart Jeanne. He is a Professor of Violin and Viola instruction at Utah State University and a string instrument Luthier, making and repairing instruments as “Johny K the String Doc” in his business JKStringz. He received a Bachelor of Music Degree from Utah State University and a Master of Arts degree at George Mason University, both in Violin performance.

John Knudson and Jason Tonioli met while performing with the musical group CaraNua (former lead singers from Celtic Woman and Riverdance) in its first concert in the U.S. in January of 2018. Their collaboration on various projects with producer Chuck E Meyers has led them to channeling their talents with the result being their new album titled “Finding Peace”.

His latest work can be heard at the new Evermore Theme Park in Pleasant Grove Utah as well as on the park’s musical soundtrack.

John has many projects currently in the works with Jason Tonioli and several other well known artists as well as music that will be featured in upcoming films and video games.

Interesting Facts about John

• John grew up in the small town of Brigham City and attended Box Elder High School
• Over 18 years of his performing career in Washing D.C. he was the busiest performing musician in the entire area performing as many as 300 shows in a single year.
• His favorite or most memorable performance was playing his violin live as a duet with Billy Joel singing “Piano Man” at the Obama Presidential Ball. While the two were playing this song, the Obama’s began dancing together for the first time at the ball.
• John’s violin who’s name is “Matilda” comes from Vienna Austria from roughly the same time period and city where Mozart lived and worked. It was used as a working instrument by someone in the orchestra and he likes to think that the violin likely shared the room and breathed the same air as Mozart.