Sasha Cooke
Biography Sasha Cooke
Sasha Cooke
Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke caused a sensation last summer at San Francisco Opera in the world premiere of Mark Adamo's The Gospel of Mary Magdalene. "With her soaring and warm voice, crystalline diction and regal yet endearing presence, Sasha Cooke as Mary is the glory of the production" (San Francisco Examiner). Acclaimed for her performances in symphony, opera, chamber music and recital, Sasha Cooke has been called "the luminous standout" (New York Times) and "equal parts poise, radiance and elegant directness" (Opera News).
Ms. Cooke began the 2013-14 season returning to the Hollywood Bowl in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with Michael Tilson Thomas and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Other symphonic engagements this season include appearances with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic performing Britten’s Spring Symphony, Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony in Ravel and Stravinsky, performances of Mahler’s 2nd with both Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Tugan Sokhiev and Columbus Symphony conducted by Jean Marie Zeituni as well as her debut with Indianapolis Symphony in Verdi's Requiem with Krzystof Urbanski. She also makes debuts with The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Cristian Macelaru in Handel, the MDR Orchestra of Leipzig in Prokofiev and Debussy with James Gaffigan conducting and Ravel's Shéhérazade with the Greenwich Village Orchestra and Pierre Vallet. Ms. Cooke will appear with her husband baritone Kelly Markgraf on New Year's Eve with the San Francisco Symphony and conductor Michael Francis. Following a return to the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Phillip Glass' The Civil Wars with Grant Gershon, Ms. Cooke will embark on a European tour with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony performing Mahler’s Symphony No. 3.
Additional highlights include her debut with Opéra National de Bordeaux as Smeton in Anna Bolena, her Wigmore Hall debut recital performing with Julius Drake as well as chamber music performances with Chamber Music Society of New York at Lincoln Center, Chamber Music Northwest, Celebrity Series of Boston, Da Camera of Houston, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and Sejong Soloists in Goyang, Korea. As a recitalist, Ms. Cooke travels to London, University of Little Rock Arkansas, Emory Univeristy, Alice Tully Hall in New York and Matinée Musicale in Duluth, Minnesota. Contemporary works continue to be a vital part of Ms. Cooke's versatile career. She performs works this season by John Harbison, George Crumb, Lowell Lieberman, Phillip Glass and Mohammed Fairouz. Premieres in future seasons include works by Mark Grey, Jake Heggie, Laura Kaminsky, Kevin Puts and Joby Talbot. As Kitty Oppenheimer in the Metropolitan premiere of John Adam's Doctor Atomic, Sasha was praised for "her fresh, vital portrayal, bringing a luminous tone, a generously supported musical line, a keen sense of verbal nuance, and a flair for seduction.” She reprised the role in her European debut at the English National Opera. Her recent album "If you love for beauty" with the Colburn Orchestra is available on Yarlung Records. She can also be found on Naxos, Sony, Music@Menlo Live and Bridge Records.
Yehuda Gilad
integrates performing, conducting and teaching into every aspect of his music. As a conductor, performer and professor, he integrates these disciplines into “total musicianship.” At the USC Thornton School of Music and at the Colburn Conservatory, Mr. Gilad has developed one of the most sought after clarinet studios in the world, evidenced by the number of students placed in orchestras world wide as well as winners in, most of the major competitions. The accomplishments of Mr. Gilad’s teachings can be best noted through the success of his students, many of which are competition winning performers and principal players in ranking orchestras throughout the world. Former students of Mr. Gilad are currently members of the New York Philharmonic, Cincinnati and Minnesota orchestras and the Stockholm, Sweden, Hong Kong, China and Seoul philharmonics, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and National Orquesta of Spain, to name a few. Mr. Gilad has also produced prize-winners of the New York Philharmonic Young Artists Competition, the Pasadena Instrumental Competition, the Dos Hermanas, Nielsen, Munich and other prestigious competitions.
In addition to his positions as professor of music at USC, master teacher at the Colburn Conservatory and Music Director of Colburn Orchestra, Mr. Gilad is regularly invited to present master classes and performances at music conservatories and festivals worldwide. He has been invited to such institutions as Kings College, Sweden, the Winter Festival in Spain, the Curtis Institute, the Mannes College, Julliard, Sibelius and Oslo Academy, Beijing Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music, among others.
An accomplished clarinetist, Mr. Gilad has performed with the Marlboro Music Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival, San Francisco Chamber Music Festival, Bowdoin summer fest, and Crussell festival. He has collaborated as performer and conductor with many of today’s most prominent artists including Gil Shaham, John Perry, Sara Chang, Joseph Kalichstein, Vladimir Feltsman and David Jolley, Josh Bell, Jimmy Linn and many others.
Mr. Gilad has had an instrumental role in the founding and forming of several notable chamber ensembles and festivals. From 1982 – 1993 he directed the Malibu Strawberry Creek Music Festival, an acclaimed annual event that provided Los Angeles with "a summer festival in which inspired, enthusiastic performance and intelligent varied programming are the norm" (Los Angeles Times). Mr. Gilad also founded the Yoav Chamber Ensemble which performed at the Merkin and Carnegie Recital Halls, and the Colburn Woodwind Chamber Players, which toured Germany, China and major cities throughout the U.S.
Mr. Gilad’s success as a conductor equals that of his renown as a performer and teacher. Hailed as one of today’s most dynamic and charismatic conductors, Mr. Gilad serves as Conductor and Music Director of the Colonial Symphony of New Jersey and the Colburn Orchestra. Since his appointment to this post in 1988, Mr. Gilad has received critical acclaim from The New York Times for his “strong imaginative programming” and championing of American and contemporary music. As noted in an article in The Star-Ledger, Gilad has "transformed the Colonial Symphony into one of [New Jersey's] artistic trendsetters." Under his leadership, the orchestra became the only one in the area to receive an NEA grant for seven consecutive years. In 1995 and 1996 the orchestra received the Distinguished Arts Organization Award from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for its artistry and programming merits. As a staunch advocate of arts education, Mr. Gilad has elevated the Colonial Symphony into not only a premiere regional orchestra, but also a teaching orchestra, taking it "on the road" to various urban and suburban schools, integrating the orchestra into the schools' curriculum.
Mr. Gilad’s guest conducting appearances have brought him critical acclaim in both the United States and Europe, where he has conducted throughout Spain, Sweden, Germany and France. In 1987 he became the first Israeli born conductor to perform in China and has since conducted numerous engagements in Beijing and Shanghai. In addition to his guest conducting engagements, Mr. Gilad serves as Music Director of the Herbert Zipper Orchestra of Los Angeles and the 20th Century Unlimited concert series in Santa Fe, New Mexico. From 1982 until 1988 Mr. Gilad was Music Director of the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra.
For his contribution to music Mr. Gilad has earned numerous accolades including Distinguished Teacher Award from the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars, Teacher of the Year Award from the Colburn School, the Israel-America Cultural Foundation Scholarship and the Robert Simon Award in Music. His former teachers include Herbert Zipper, Daniel Lewis, William Schaefer, Mitchell Lurie and Giora Feidman. In addition, Mr. Gilad participated in numerous master classes with Sergiu Celibidache and the late Leonard Bernstein. Dedicated to fostering increased public appreciation and support of classical music in the United States and abroad, Mr. Gilad has made frequent appearances on various broadcasts including NBC, CBS, WQXR, WMTR, KUSC, NJN, Cablevision, and the national television of mainland China.
