After returning to the US for high school, Fain attended Crossroads School for the Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica, continuing violin studies at the Colburn School with Laura Schmieder and privately with Professor Eduard Schmieder.
In 2009, Tim was a soloist in Mendelssohn Concerto for Violin and Piano (with Italian pianist Mariangela Vacatello) with iPalpiti orchestra of international laureates/ Eduard Schmieder, conductor, at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
CD was released on BCM+D label.
Also in 2015, Fain performed for the 14th Dalai Lama on his 80th Birthday at the Peak Mind Foundation Summit.[11]
Fain appeared at the 2019 KIND gala alongside Daily Show host Trevor Noah, performing musical accompaniment to poetry and rap performances by former refugees from the Congo and El Salvador.[12]
Also in 2017, Fain performed at the Vatican.[14][15]
In 2018, Fain performed Glass’ Double Concerto for Violin and Cello, conducted by Marin Alsop, with cellist Matt Haimovitz at the Cabrillo Festival.[16]
In 2010, Fain co-arranged the onscreen music in the movie Black Swan, and also performed featured violin on-camera alongside leading actress Natalie Portman in the film.[19]
Fain collaborated with Britell once again on the film score and soundtrack for 2016's Moonlight, which won the Academy-Award for Best Picture that year. Fain also joined director and cast members for special performances with Britell at a Moonlight screening and discussion[21] hosted by The New York Times and performed the score live to picture for an event at the Million Dollar Theater in Los Angeles.
Also in 2016, Fain featured on Jay Wadley's score to James Schamus' Indignation.
Fain has toured extensively with composer Philip Glass as a duo partner, and has frequently performed compositions by Glass including works he has written for Fain. He has collaborated with other prominent musicians in performances of Glass’ work, including Iggy Pop, Simone Dinnerstein, Sondre Lerche, Lou Reed, and Bryce Dessner of The National.[23]
Fain has performed music from Glass’ opera, Einstein on the Beach,[24] including in 2013, with pianist Pei-Yao Wang a performance of Knee 2, in recital at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.[25] Fain later joined the world tour cast of Einstein on the Beach as “Einstein” for a run of performances in Gwangju, South Korea in 2015.
Fain continues to tour a duo-recital program worldwide with Philip Glass. The recital includes music written by Glass for Fain.[26]
In 2012, Fain performed Philip Glass's Pendulum with pianist Bruce Brubaker at the composer's 75th birthday party concert in New York.[27]
The pair toured together in 2017 on Book of Longing; a production featuring music written by Glass and words by Leonard Cohen.[28]
Work in music and technology
Fain has a strong professional interest in the intersection of music and technology and has created several virtual reality and multimedia works.
Fain has released VR violin performances on his YouTube channel, including the Jump VR video Resonance[32] and a 180 VR performance of Philip Glass' "Knee Play 2" from Einstein on The Beach filmed on the coastline of the San Juan Islands.[33]
In 2017, Fain again collaborated with Britell to premiere their multimedia film music recital program “Once Upon a Score” at the Ravinia Festival.[34]
In 2018, Fain composed and performed the music for the VR series Interpretation of Dreams as part of Samsung’s VR pilot season. Each episode of the series re-imagines a case study from Sigmund Freud's1899 book of the same name.[35]
Fain composed and performed the interactive musical score for Metamorphic, a social VR film experience which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.[36]
In 2019, Fain gave a keynote speech at the TED conference in Hieronymus Park in Montana. The presentation was titled "How Virtual Reality Can Help Make Our Stories (and Music!) Better," and examined the future of music and virtual reality.[37]
Compositions
Fain composed the score and performed on the soundtrack to the 2014 documentary Untouchable: Children of God which deals with the lives of two young girls who were rescued from working in Indian brothels.[38]
In 2015, Fain composed Resonance, a short work for violin and orchestra which was used for a Google Jump VR music film directed by Jessica Brillhart. The collaboration with Google, recorded with Eric Jacobsen conducting The Knights,[32] marked YouTube's release of its 360 spatial audio capabilities.
In 2016, he composed Freedom for violin and orchestra, the recording of which was released to raise awareness about modern slavery. Proceeds from sales and downloads of Freedom went toward Made in a Free World, an NGO focused on work in this area.[39]
Fain composed the score to Interpretation of Dreams, a 2018, 4-episode virtual reality series directed by Graham Sack, and distributed by Samsung.[40]
Fain composed and performed the interactive musical score for Metamorphic, a social VR film experience which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.[36]
In 2020, Fain performed a duo recital with pianist Simone Dinnerstein at the Bitterroot Performing Arts Center, and also solo recitals at Pro Musica in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.[41][42]
Fain released his track Glacial in honor of Earth Day 2020, as a celebration of our planet and a call to action to combat climate change.[43] The track was also used in the Sierra Club's Outdoors for All campaign in 2021.[44]
In 2021, Fain premiered his own violin concerto, Edge of A Dream, with conductor Jacomo Bairos and the Amarillo Symphony.[45][46]
