Mark & Jee-Won Oh Kosower
Mark Kosower is one of the outstanding and distinguished cellists of his generation. Hailed by musicians and critics alike for his extraordinary instrumental mastery, musical integrity, and purity of expression, he is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant awarded by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Highlights of the 2006-07 season include appearances as soloist with Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony, Gunther Schuller and the Spokane Symphony, and Edwin Outwater and the Southwest Florida Symphony, solo recitals at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and a new release of Tchaikovksy and Rachmaninoff piano trios with Ilya Itin and Igor Gruppman for VAI. Highlights of the 2005-06 season included return engagements as soloist with the Florida Orchestra and in recital on the Great Performer's Series at Lincoln Center, performances with the Toledo Symphony and in recital at New York's Merkin Hall, a release of the Walton Cello Concerto with James DePreist and the Oregon Symphony for Delos, and two recordings with pianist Jee-Won Oh for Naxos including the complete works fo r cello and piano of Alberto Ginastera and a Hungarian album of music by Dohnányi, Bartók, Kodály, Liszt, Rosza, and Popper, both of which are scheduled to be released in 2007.
Mr. Kosower has performed as soloist with orchestras on five continents, including appearances with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the China National Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, the Kansai Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris, the Kwa-Zulu Natal Philharmonic, and the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared as guest soloist with orchestras throughout the U.S. including the Buffalo, Dayton, Florida, and Long Island philharmonics, and the symphony orchestras of Alabama, Detroit, Florida, Grand Rapids, Houston, Indianapolis, Knoxville, Milwaukee, Minnesota, North Carolina, Omaha, Oregon, Phoenix, Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra among others. Festival appearances include performances with the Ravinia, Brevard, Peninsula Music, and San Luis Obispo festival orchestras. Mr. Kosower has collaborated with such prominent conductors as Christoph Eschenbach, Joanne Falletta, Erich Kunzel, Nicholas McGegan, Anton Nanut, Stefan Sanderling, Gerard Schwarz, and Hugh Wolff.
As a recitalist Mr. Kosower has performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, on the Great Performers Series at Lincoln Center, at the Aspen Music Festival, on Ravinia's "Rising Stars" series, and in the cities of Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Milwaukee, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Jose, and Washington DC. He has also given solo performances in such prestigious venues worldwide as the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Frankfurt's Alte Oper, Berlin's Komische Oper, the Theatro Municipale in Rio de Janeiro, and in New York's Avery Fisher Hall, as well as at the International Cello Congress in Kobe, Japan and the Kronberg Cello Festival in Germany.
A former member of Chamber Music Two, a two-year residency at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Mr. Kosower makes frequent appearances at chamber music societies and festivals throughout the U.S. He frequently performs with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players and the Omega Ensemble in New York, and has made numerous appearances at an Appalachian Music festival, the Park City International Music Festival, the Sitka Summer Music Festival, and at Barge Music in New York.
The recipient of many prizes and awards, Mr. Kosower recently received a SONY Grant awarded by the Salon de Virtuosi in New York. Other awards include Grand Prize in the Seventh Irving Klein International String Competition, Grand Prize in the WAMSO Young Artist Competition, first-prize in the Aspen Music Festival and the Juilliard cello concerto competitions, and top prize winner in the Seventh Concours Rostropovich where he was also awarded the special prize for the best interpretation of "Ay, there's the rub" by Marco Stroppa. Mr. Kosower is also associated with ASTRAL Artistic Services in Philadelphia as a result of winning their national auditions.
A former student of Janos Starker at Indiana University and Joel Krosnick at The Juilliard School, Mr. Kosower is currently Solo Cellist of the Bamberg Symphony in Germany and is Professor of Cello at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Jee-Won Oh Kosower, born in Seoul, Korea, has performed internationally as chamber musician and soloist, having performed in Korea, Europe, South America, and the United States. Among her numerous performances she has given solo recitals and chamber music concerts in Lübeck, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Salzburg, Seoul, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, St. Paul, on Ravini a's Rising Stars Series, and at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. Ms. Oh has performed at many prestigious music festivals including the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, the Ernen Musikdorf, the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, the Sitka Summer Music Festival, and the Park City International Music Festival.
Ms. Oh regularly collaborates with cellist Mark Kosower, and has appeared in concert with him across the United States and abroad.& nbsp; Recent and upcoming performances include return engagements on the Great Performers Series at Lincoln Center and at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC as well as performances at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, at Barge Music in New York, at the Kronberg Academy in Germany, at the Sala Cecília Meireles in Rio de Janeiro, and at Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, Korea. In April 2006 she recorded the complete works for cello and piano of Alberto Ginastera along with a Hungaria n album of music by Dohnányi, Bartók, Kodály, Liszt, and Popper for the Naxos label which is scheduled to be released in 2007.
Ms. Oh was the studio pianist and assistant to the famed cellist Janos Starker for five years and was an Associate Instructor of Piano at Indiana University from 1994-98. She also received her Masters Degree in Piano Performance from Indiana University where she studied with György Sebök and Shigeo Neriki. Mr. Oh received her Bachelors Degree from Han Yang University in Seoul where she was the recipient of a Young Chang Piano Foundation scholarship.