Leila Josefowicz’s passionate advocacy of contemporary music for the violin is reflected in her diverse programs and enthusiasm for performing new works. In recognition of her outstanding achievement and excellence in music, she won the 2018 Avery Fisher Prize, and, in 2008, she was awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, joining prominent scientists, writers, and musicians who’ve made unique contributions to contemporary life.
A favorite violinist of living composers, Ms. Josefowicz has premiered many concertos, including ones written for her by Colin Matthews, Steven Mackey, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. This season, she gives the world premiere of Matthias Pintscher’s Assonanza II for Violin and Chamber Orchestra with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra followed by the European premiere with Musikkollegium Winterthur in Switzerland, both times with Mr. Pintscher conducting. Other recent premieres include John Adams’s Scheherazade.2—Dramatic Symphony for Violin and Orchestra in 2015 with the New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert and Luca Francesconi’s Duende—The Dark Notes in 2014 with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Susanna Mälkki. Ms. Josefowicz enjoyed a close working relationship with the late composer and conductor Oliver Knussen, performing various concertos, including his Violin Concerto, together more than 30 times.
Highlights of Ms. Josefowicz’s 2021–22 season—which began following summer performances at the Grand Teton Music Festival and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival—include a return to the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, working with their incoming music director Nicholas Collon; appearances with such regular collaborators as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and NAC Orchestra in Ottawa; and return engagements with the Oslo Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Budapest Festival Orchestra, working with Hannu Lintu, Dalia Stasevska, John Storgårds, Ms. Mälkki, and Mr. Salonen.
Highlights of Ms. Josefowicz’s recent seasons include working with the Berlin Philharmonic; the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC; the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich; the Boston and Chicago symphony orchestras; and the Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras, where she worked with conductors at the highest level, including Ms. Mälkki, Mr. Pintscher, and Mr. Adams.
Ms. Josefowicz has participated in several important projects throughout the pandemic. She appeared on the MetLiveArts Spring 2021 series, playing the new solo violin work La Linea Evocativa, which Mr. Pintscher wrote for her and which she performed alongside Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D Minor surrounded by masterpieces by Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. She also collaborated with The Violin Channel for their virtual Vanguard Concerts series, performing works by Mahler and Sibelius as well as Reflection by Knussen and Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Sonata with pianist John Novacek.
Alongside Mr. Novacek, with whom she’s enjoyed a close collaboration since 1985, Ms. Josefowicz has given recitals at world-renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall and the Park Avenue Armory in New York City; The Kennedy Center and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC; and Wigmore Hall in London, as well as at venues in Reykjavik, Chicago, San Francisco, and Santa Barbara. This season, she gives solo performances at Wigmore Hall and The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC.
Ms. Josefowicz has released several recordings, notably for the Deutsche Grammophon, Philips/Universal, and Warner Classics labels, and she was featured on Touch Press’s acclaimed iPad app, The Orchestra. Her latest recording, released in 2019, features Zimmermann’s Violin Concerto, which she performs with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Hannu Lintu. Ms. Josefowicz has previously received Grammy Award nominations for her recordings of Scheherazade.2 with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Robertson, and Mr. Salonen’s Violin Concerto, performed with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and conducted by the composer.
