Biography
Violin
Leila Josefowicz
LEILA JOSEFOWICZ’s passionate advocacy of contemporary music for the violin is reflected in her diverse programs and enthusiasm for performing new works. She won the 2018 Avery Fisher Prize and was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2008, joining prominent scientists, writers, and musicians who have made unique contributions to contemporary life.
Ms. Josefowicz has premiered many concertos, including those by Colin Matthews, Steven Mackey, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. This season, she gives the world premiere of Matthias Pintscher’s Assonanza II with the Cincinnati Symphony. Other recent premieres include John Adams’s Scheherazade.2 with the New York Philharmonic. She enjoyed a close working relationship with the late Oliver Knussen, performing various concertos, including his violin concerto, together more than thirty times.
This season, Ms. Josefowicz performs with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, and the Finnish Radio Symphony. Other recent appearances include the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and Philadelphia Orchestra. During the pandemic, she participated in the MetLiveArts Spring 2021 series, premiering a new work by Pintscher alongside J.S. Bach’s Partita No. 2, staged among paintings by Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.
Ms. Josefowicz has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Philips/Universal, and Warner Classics, and was featured on the iPad app “The Orchestra.” Her latest recording, released in 2019, features Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Violin Concerto with the Finnish Radio Symphony. She has previously received Grammy Award nominations for Scheherazade.2 with the Saint Louis Symphony and Salonen’s Violin Concerto with the Finnish Radio Symphony. Leila Josefowicz made her San Francisco Symphony debut in 1997 and became a Shenson Young Artist in 2008.
Ms. Josefowicz has premiered many concertos, including those by Colin Matthews, Steven Mackey, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. This season, she gives the world premiere of Matthias Pintscher’s Assonanza II with the Cincinnati Symphony. Other recent premieres include John Adams’s Scheherazade.2 with the New York Philharmonic. She enjoyed a close working relationship with the late Oliver Knussen, performing various concertos, including his violin concerto, together more than thirty times.
This season, Ms. Josefowicz performs with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, and the Finnish Radio Symphony. Other recent appearances include the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and Philadelphia Orchestra. During the pandemic, she participated in the MetLiveArts Spring 2021 series, premiering a new work by Pintscher alongside J.S. Bach’s Partita No. 2, staged among paintings by Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.
Ms. Josefowicz has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Philips/Universal, and Warner Classics, and was featured on the iPad app “The Orchestra.” Her latest recording, released in 2019, features Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Violin Concerto with the Finnish Radio Symphony. She has previously received Grammy Award nominations for Scheherazade.2 with the Saint Louis Symphony and Salonen’s Violin Concerto with the Finnish Radio Symphony. Leila Josefowicz made her San Francisco Symphony debut in 1997 and became a Shenson Young Artist in 2008.
