Warner Classics & Jazz

Biography

Still in her mid twenties, violinist Leila Josefowicz has won the hearts of audiences around the world with her honest, fresh approach to the repertoire and her dynamic virtuosity.

Leila Josefowicz made her Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 16 and immediately followed this with her debut recording of the Tchaikovsky and the Sibelius concertos for Philips Classics. Since that time she has appeared with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including the Boston and Chicago symphonies, Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras, Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Vienna Symphony, Deutsches-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the NHK Symphony Orchestra. She has collaborated with such eminent conductors as Seiji Ozawa, Valery Gergiev, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Charles Dutoit, Kurt Sanderling and Franz Welser-Moest, amongst others. A regular, close collaborator with leading composers of the day such as John Adams and Oliver Knussen, Leila Josefowicz is a strong advocate of new music – a characteristic which is reflected in her diverse programmes and her enthusiasm to première new works.

Leila Josefowicz’s recent European engagements include appearances with the Czech Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the Norwegian premiere of Knussen’s Violin Concerto with the Oslo Philharmonic. In September 2003 she appeared as soloist at the prestigious Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Leila has also given recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, as well as several European festivals. She toured throughout the Far East with the Asian Youth Orchestra during the summer of 2001 and around Europe with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony in October 2002. In early 2003 she was the soloist on the Toshiba Grand Tour of Japan with Mikko Franck and the Orchestre National de Belgique.

The current season begins with a return to the Munich Philharmonic, as well as concerts with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, where she will give the Dutch première of the Knussen Concerto. Other highlights of the season include a performance of the Adams Violin Concerto with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and Edo de Waart, and concerts with the Basel Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Bretagne and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Leila Josefowicz also appears in recitals in Poland and Germany, as well as at London’s Barbican Centre, with her regular accompanist John Novacek.

Leila Josefowicz’s recent engagements in North America include appearances with the Minnesota Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Saint Louis, Dallas, Montreal, National, Detroit, Seattle and Baltimore symphonies, as well as recitals in San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and New York.

No stranger to television, Leila Josefowicz has appeared on numerous broadcasts in the US, and in January 2002, her highly-acclaimed performance of John Adams’ Violin Concerto with the BBC Symphony at the John Adams Festival was televised and broadcast by the BBC throughout Europe. Directed by the composer himself, the work was later taken on tour to Paris and Brussels, and a live recording was released on the new BBC label.

Leila Josefowicz’s debut recording of Tchaikovsky and Sibelius with Sir Neville Marriner was followed in 1996 by her second disc, Solo, which features unaccompanied violin works by Bartók, Kreisler, Ysaye, Ernst and Paganini. Both releases, which were for Philips/Universal, were awarded the Diapason d’Or prize. Subsequent releases, also for Philips/Universal, include Bohemian Rhapsodies, a collection of virtuosic violin works with orchestra, For the End of Time and Americana with pianist John Novacek, and the Mendelssohn, Glazunov and Prokofiev concertos with the Montreal Symphony, Charles Dutoit conducting. In addition, Leila Josefowicz performs the title track on John Adams’ recently released album Road Movies (Nonesuch).

A recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1994, Leila Josefowicz plays on a 1724 Guarneri del Gesu violin.

With your copy of Leila Josefowicz’s new Shostakovich CD you can access a free download of the Allegretto in B minor from Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes, and enter a competition to win original album artwork signed by the artist herself. There's also the chance to access an image gallery of Leila Josefowicz from a recent photoshoot.

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