Leila Josefowicz, Minnesota Orchestra & Thomas Søndergård
Biographie Leila Josefowicz, Minnesota Orchestra & Thomas Søndergård
Leila Josefowicz
Leila’s passionate advocacy of contemporary music for the violin is reflected in her diverse programmes and enthusiasm for performing new works. A favourite of living composers, Josefowicz has premiered many concertos, including those by Colin Matthews, Luca Francesconi, John Adams and Esa-Pekka Salonen, all written especially for her.
This season, Josefowicz presents the world premiere of Jüri Reinvere’s Concerto for Violin, Harp, and Orchestra with the Cleveland Orchestra, under the baton of their Music Director, Franz Welser-Möst. Further engagements include the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic and Minnesota Orchestra. Josefowicz performs an array of concerti this season, including Karol Szymanowski’s Concerto for Violin No. 2 with New York Philharmonic and Marta Gardolinska, and a highly-anticipated reunion with John Adams for a performance of his dramatic symphony for solo violin and orchestra, Scheherazade.2, with the Hallé – a work she premiered with Adams and the New York Philharmonic in 2015.
Highlights of recent seasons include appearances with Berliner Philharmoniker, Royal Concertgebouworkest, London Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Oslo, London and Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestras, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, KBS, City of Birmingham, Prague and symphony orchestras, where she worked with conductors at the highest level, including Paavo Järvi, Matthias Pintscher, John Storgårds, Cristian Măcelaru, Thomas Søndergård, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Dalia Stasevska and Hannu Lintu.
Josefowicz enjoyed a close working relationship with the late Oliver Knussen, performing various concerti, including his violin concerto, together over 30 times. She will once again perform Knussen’s Violin Concerto with the Münchner Philharmoniker this season, under the baton of Brad Lubman. Other premieres have included Matthias Pintscher’s Assonanza with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Luca Francesconi’s Duende – The Dark Notes with Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Steven Mackey’s Beautiful Passing with BBC Philharmonic. Last season included a British premiere of Helen Grime’s Violin Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo at the Aldeburgh Festival, where she appeared as their 2025 Featured Artist.
Together with John Novacek, with whom she has enjoyed a close collaboration since 1985, Josefowicz has performed recitals at world-renowned venues such as New York’s Zankel Hall and Park Avenue Armory, Washington DC’s Kennedy Center and Library of Congress, as well as in Reykjavik, Trento, Bilbao and Chicago. This season they give the US premiere of Charlotte Bray’s Mriya at the Lincoln Center, and the Australian premiere as part of a multi-city tour of the country for Musica Viva.
Josefowicz has released several recordings, notably for Deutsche Grammophon, Philips/Universal and Warner Classics and was featured on Touch Press’s acclaimed iPad app, The Orchestra. Her latest recording, released in 2019, features Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Violin Concerto with Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hannu Lintu. She has previously received nominations for Grammy Awards for her recordings of Scheherazade.2 with St Louis Symphony conducted by David Robertson, and Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Violin Concerto with Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer.
In recognition of her outstanding achievement and excellence in music, she won the 2018 Avery Fisher Prize and was awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in 2008, joining prominent scientists, writers and musicians who have made unique contributions to contemporary life.
