Danielle Belén

January's Black Arts-National City Artist of the Month is violinist Danielle Belén—winner of the 2008 Sphinx Competition. This year she's appearing as soloist with the Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Nashville and San Francisco Symphonies, the Boston Pops, and the Florida Orchestra. Last year, Belén premiered Andrew Norman's "Gran Turismo for 8 Virtuoso Violins" in Los Angeles and at New York City's 92nd Street Y. And in January, she performed at the Cleveland Orchestra's Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Concert.

Belén's impressive resumé also includes stints as concertmaster of the New West Symphony, the Colburn Chamber Orchestra, and the National Repertory Orchestra. She's also the co-founder and artistic director of Music Heals, which offers string quartet performances to patients at the USC University Hospital in Los Angeles.

Soon, you'll have the opportunity to hear Belén on CD: she's featured on a disc of new works by Lawrence Dillon that Naxos is recording this spring.

Danielle Belén's website notes that she lives with "two adorable yet sometimes comatose bunnies."

The Black Arts-National City Artist of the Month is presented with the sponsorship of National City, dedicated to supporting the communities they serve.