New and Retiring Musicians
New Principal Cello, Mark Kosower
Timeline
1976 – Mark is born in Eau Claire, WI
1978 – Mark begins to play the cello studying with his father and with the Suzuki method in the local chapter.
1982-92 – Mark begins playing cello trios with his father and older sister. They travel and perform on university, church, and museum artist series’ for ten years. Highlights include a performance for Mstislav Rostropovich at the Second American Cello Congress and a tour of Romania, Hungary and Austria.
1992 – Mark wins the Irving Klein International String Competition and begins to perform as a soloist.
1995-99 – Studies with Janos Starker at Indiana University for a Bachelors Degree and an Artist Diploma in Cello.
1999-2003 – Studies with Joel Krosnick at The Juilliard School for a Masters Degree and an Artist Diploma in Cello.
2000 – Debut Recital at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
2001 – Marries Jee-Won Oh in Bloomington, IN, former studio pianist for Janos Starker.
2002 – Recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant
2005 – Two Concerts as Soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony performing the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations with Janos Starker performing the Dohnanyi Concertpiece on the same concerts – this being his last full season performing as a soloist.
2005-07 – Professor of Cello and Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
2006-10 – Solo Cellist (German Equivalent of Principal Cello) of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra in Germany.
2010 – Mark finishes recording the complete works of Alberto Ginastera for solo cello making him the first cellist to do so. He records the first and second concertos with the Bamberg Symphony.
2010- Mark joins the Cleveland Orchestra as Principal Cello
Mark Kosower has many past connections to the city of Cleveland. He says, “I almost felt like I already lived here when I first arrived last summer. After hearing so many stories about Cleveland from my father and performing in the area twice in my teens it really seemed like my life in Cleveland had long since been in motion.”
Mark’s father went to school at CIM in the early ‘60’s and studied with then Principal Cello of the Cleveland Orchestra Ernst Silberstein. If ancestry plays a role Mark’s grandfather was a minister at a congregational church in Cleveland while his father was going to CIM, and his grandfather’s parents (great grandfather and great grandmother) emigrated from the Ukraine to Cleveland in the late 1800’s. One step further removed Mark played on the Duke of Marlborough Stradivarius cello while studying at The Juilliard School which once belonged to the famous German cellist Hugo Becker, teacher of Ernst Silberstein. Also, Mark performed with his father and sister at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Church of the Covenant, and at the Rocky River Chamber Music Society in the early ‘90’s.
Mark commented on playing in an orchestra versus playing as a soloist: “In an orchestra one has to figure out how to best apply themselves for the greatest benefit of the group. Any sort of ensemble playing requires the giving of oneself for the greater good. However, it is also in the interest of any ensemble for each individual to express their own personal voice and to have soloistic qualities as well. Perhaps the greatest difference between playing in an orchestra and being a soloist is that, as a soloist, one has to lead the orchestra and oversee the interpretation of a work like a conductor, whereas playing in an orchestra a person has to still interpret the music but play in collaboration as one of many interpreters.”
On the Cleveland Orchestra Mark said, “What impressed me most upon playing with the Cleveland Orchestra for the first time was the professionalism, the incredibly high level of ensemble playing, and the distinctive musical voices in the orchestra. When I started playing there were simply no doubts in my mind about how I needed to apply myself.”
Mark spoke favorably about living in the Cleveland area. “I was surprised when I first visited in my adult life at the diversity of people and what the Cleveland area had to offer. The area has the feeling of deep-rooted communities and traditions that are often lacking in the more modern metropolises that have sprung up in more recent times. Also, the position of the Orchestra in the community is quite remarkable.”
By Marisela Sager
Coming soon: New Violinist, Elayna Duitman
Retiring Violinist, Vaclav Benkovic