Tessa Schwartz, 17, is a bluegrass fiddle player based in Berkeley, CA. Tessa picked up the fiddle at age 5 and currently plays in North Country Blue, a five-piece bluegrass band. The band has appeared at top venues throughout California and beyond, such as the Strawberry Music Festival, the Father's Day Festival in Grass Valley, Viva Las VeGrass in Las Vegas, and the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley. In August 2020, the band released their sophomore album, an eight-song EP featuring two of Tessa's original compositions. Tessa teaches private lessons and group classes at Manning Music in Berkeley, has taught at Fiddlekids and the CBA Youth Academy, and, in 2018, founded a bluegrass ensemble program at King Middle School. Tessa is not currently taking new students, but if you're a classical violinist who is interested in an entirely new way of playing music or a beginning fiddle player looking to dive deeper in to bluegrass, you can email Tessa at tschwartz1001@yahoo.com.