Steven Copes concertmaster

Violinist Steven Copes leads a diverse and enthusiastic musical life as soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader. He joined the SPCO as Concertmaster in 1998, and has led the orchestra from the chair in several highly acclaimed, eclectic programs, and has performed concertos by Berg, Brahms, Hindemith, Kirchner, Lutoslawski, Mozart, Prokofiev, and Weill. A zealous advocate of the music of today, he gave the world premiere of George Tsontakis’ Grammy-nominated Violin Concerto No. 2 (2003), which won the 2005 Grawemeyer award, and has been recorded for KOCH Records. Copes was co-founder and director of Alpenglow Chamber Music Festival in Colorado, and is a member of Accordo, a new chamber group in residence at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis. He has also performed at festivals and concert series such as Boston Chamber Music Society, Caramoor, Chamber Music Northwest, Marlboro, Norfolk, San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, among others, and at festivals across the globe. Copes is a frequent guest leader with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and has served in the same capacity with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the London Philharmonic and the Baltimore Symphony. He holds degrees from The Curtis Institute and The Juilliard School of Music, and his teachers include Robert Lipsett, Aaron Rosand, Robert Mann and the late Felix Galimir for chamber music. He performs on a violin made by Guiseppe Guarnerius del Gesu in 1742, on generous loan from Michael and Jean Antonello.