Principal Cellist of The Cleveland Orchestra, Mark Kosower is a modern player with a “signature sound”, embodying the complete musician: concerto soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, scholar and teacher. His repertoire spans the familiar to the rarely heard, including concertos by Ginastera, Rózsa, Gulda and Victor Herbert. Recording for Ambitus, Delos, Naxos and VAI, he was the first cellist to record Ginastera’s complete solo cello music; MusicWeb International called him a “powerful advocate of Ginastera’s art,” and Strings Magazine praised his “stunning virtuosity, passionate intensity, and elegant phrasing.”
As concerto soloist, he has performed extensively with major orchestras including The Cleveland Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Houston and Seattle Symphony, the Ravinia Festival and St. Paul chamber orchestras, among others. He has worked with renowned conductors including Blomstedt, Sir Andrew Davis, Eschenbach and Welser-Möst, and given recitals at the Kennedy Center, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the National Gallery of Art, and on the Great Performer’s Series at Lincoln Center.
Mark Kosower is a frequent guest at international chamber music festivals including the Santa Fe, North Shore, Blossom, Aspen, Eastern, and Pacific Music (of Japan) festivals, among many others. His chamber music appearances have included performances with Yefim Bronfman, James Ehnes, Leon Fleisher, Vadim Gluzman, Robert Mann, Janos Starker, Schmuel Ashkenasi, and the Juilliard String Quartet. In 2017 he founded Bach for Humanity, bringing Bach’s music to churches, schools, shelters and retirement communities.
Formerly Solo Cellist of the Bamberg Symphony in Germany, Mr. Kosower teaches a series of masterclasses at Hidden Valley Music Seminars in Carmel Valley each summer and is on the faculty at Carnegie Hall’s NYO-USA program and the Colorado College of Music Summer Music Festival. He has also worked with students in lessons and masterclasses around the world including the New World Symphony fellows, the Shanghai Orchestra Academy, and the Baccareli Institute of São Paulo and has been on the faculties at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory.
Megalong Music Festival is excited to welcome Mark Kosower to Australia for first time performances and mentoring in 2027.