Acclaimed Violinist Leila Josefowicz to Give Free Concert at Ithaca College

By Dave Maley, November 7, 2018
Performance is part of Louis K. Thaler Concert Violinist Series.

Virtuoso violinist Leila Josefowicz will present a recital at Ithaca College on Sunday, November 11, at 3 p.m. in Ford Hall of the James J. Whalen Center for Music. She will be joined by pianist John Novacek in a program of works by Sibelius, Prokofiev, Mahler, Knussen and Zimmerman.

Josefowicz will also be presenting a workshop at 6 p.m. in the Whalen Center’s Hockett Family Recital Hall. She will discuss her experiences in contemporary music and working with living composers, as well as answering audience questions.

Both the concert and workshop are free and open to the public.

Josefowicz’s passionate advocacy of contemporary music for the violin is reflected in her diverse programs and enthusiasm to perform new works. She frequently collaborates with leading composers and works with orchestras and conductors at the highest level around the world. In 2008, she was awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, joining prominent scientists, writers and musicians who have made unique contributions to contemporary life.

Alongside pianist John Novacek, with whom she has enjoyed a close collaboration since 1985, Josefowitz has performed recitals at renowned venues throughout the world. Highlights of her 2018–19 season include concerts with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and Oslo Philharmonic and the Houston, St. Louis, Toronto and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras.

Her Ithaca performance is part of the Louis K. Thaler Concert Violinist Series, which was established in the Ithaca College School of Music by the Thaler/Howell Foundation in memory of Louis Thaler and to honor his lifelong love of the violin. The impetus for this gift was provided by Louis Thaler's son Manley and his immediate family.