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Leila Josefowicz
Leila focused the enthusiastic audience attention on works by three Russian composers, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich using her violin in a fresh and clear way in spite of the technical difficulties of the pieces. She hits the right tone sometimes by pronounced rhythm and sometimes by slow melancholic touches, then ends up with what seems to be musical acrobatics that tear the violin strings but she goes on playing contemporary enchanting melodies as if nothing has happened.
Leila was born in 1978 and graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 1997. A few years later she became a rising star building her fame on the first violin concerto by the great twentieth century composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Her success provoked many new offers for more concerts and CDs, and in 2006 her photo was published on the cover page of the BBC Music magazine as one of the prodigy children that made it to glory and fame at the age of 28.
She had a busy program this year in various American cities from the east to the west coasts. Last summer she stunned the spectators at the mountainous Swiss resort of Verbier where the famous Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich brings her artist friends to outstanding performances. Leila was also a great success in Manchester, England with series of old and contemporary music concerts. Her public performances were sold out in Helsinki, Finland and Madrid, Spain as well as Rome, Italy. Shostakovich remains her favorite composer as she virtually always includes one of his pieces in any of her concerts; she considers him as the secret of her success and uses her valuable violin with great resonance to prove the point. Shostakovich, who died in 1975, used to be afraid of Stalin’s opinions regarding his music while harboring a hidden appreciation for some American tunes to the extent that he re- orchestrated the hit song “ Tea for Two” and included it as part of his Jazz Suite. Stalin did not notice that piece because he was attracted to Shostakovich’s heroic symphonies glorifying Soviet and Red Army victories. He finally poured out his anger when the composer dared write an opera showing marital treachery and murder, something that Soviet propaganda refused to admit could happen in the Soviet Union under communism and reserved it for the decadent West.
Last year Leila won the prize of the McArthur Foundation for half a million dollars for “ her strong commitment to classical music and her extraordinary creativity “ as the Foundation’s statement proclaims. One reason for awarding her this prestigious prize is her contribution to adding a new cadenza to Beethoven’s famous violin concerto. They say that Leila puts her violin next to her when she sleeps ; perhaps both of them dream together while in bed.
Leila was born in 1978 and graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 1997. A few years later she became a rising star building her fame on the first violin concerto by the great twentieth century composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Her success provoked many new offers for more concerts and CDs, and in 2006 her photo was published on the cover page of the BBC Music magazine as one of the prodigy children that made it to glory and fame at the age of 28.
She had a busy program this year in various American cities from the east to the west coasts. Last summer she stunned the spectators at the mountainous Swiss resort of Verbier where the famous Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich brings her artist friends to outstanding performances. Leila was also a great success in Manchester, England with series of old and contemporary music concerts. Her public performances were sold out in Helsinki, Finland and Madrid, Spain as well as Rome, Italy. Shostakovich remains her favorite composer as she virtually always includes one of his pieces in any of her concerts; she considers him as the secret of her success and uses her valuable violin with great resonance to prove the point. Shostakovich, who died in 1975, used to be afraid of Stalin’s opinions regarding his music while harboring a hidden appreciation for some American tunes to the extent that he re- orchestrated the hit song “ Tea for Two” and included it as part of his Jazz Suite. Stalin did not notice that piece because he was attracted to Shostakovich’s heroic symphonies glorifying Soviet and Red Army victories. He finally poured out his anger when the composer dared write an opera showing marital treachery and murder, something that Soviet propaganda refused to admit could happen in the Soviet Union under communism and reserved it for the decadent West.
Last year Leila won the prize of the McArthur Foundation for half a million dollars for “ her strong commitment to classical music and her extraordinary creativity “ as the Foundation’s statement proclaims. One reason for awarding her this prestigious prize is her contribution to adding a new cadenza to Beethoven’s famous violin concerto. They say that Leila puts her violin next to her when she sleeps ; perhaps both of them dream together while in bed.
