Robert Cohen

In a distinguished career stretching nearly forty years (he made his Royal Festival Hall debut at the age of 12), Robert Cohen has established himself as “an individual, and an exceptionally gifted one” (Washington Post). He is a performer in whose individuality “it is easy to hear what the fuss is about. He plays like a God” (New York Stereo), but it is always at the service of an inquisitive and passionate spirit - as satisfying in a repertoire stretching from Bach to Brett Dean as it is compelling in grand concerto or intimate chamber music. A probing musician and born communicator Cohen “can hold an audience in the palm of his hand “ (The Guardian).

Music is in the blood. His father led the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, his mother was a fine pianist, and a chance encounter with Tchaikovsky’s ‘Rococo Variations’ sealed the young Robert Cohen’s fate. A pupil of the legendary William Pleeth, Cohen studied at London’s Purcell School and Guildhall School of Music, taking additional lessons with Jacqueline du Pré and also broadening his experience in masterclasses with André Navarra and Rostropovich.

Whilst still a teenager he recorded the Elgar Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Norman Del Mar - a record whose sales earned Cohen a coveted ‘Silver Disc’. Subsequently he has worked with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Sir Simon Rattle and Mariss Jansons, performing the world over, Europe to Australia, Japan to the USA. He has also become increasingly active as a conductor himself, and in the coming seasons will direct the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the Prague Chamber Orchestra and L’Orchestra Filarmonico di Torino.

Several composers have written concertos especially for him, most notably Sally Beamish whose ‘River’ was recorded for BIS and made the subject of a BBC TV film. Recently Robert Cohen has premiered works for cello and orchestra by Mañas and Campogrande - broadcast on Italian TV and Radio - and he will premiere a new concerto by Sally Beamish (co-commissioned with the Minnesota Orchestra) in 2009. Concertos by BBC Music Magazine ‘Rising Star’ Benjamin Ellin and Jorge Bosso have been written for Cohen and await first performances. The Finnish composer Kimmo Hakola will also write a new concerto for Robert.

His enthusiasm for contemporary music has led to a fruitful collaboration with HK Gruber (their recording of Gruber’s Cello Concerto with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra was released to great critical acclaim in 2004); and the groundbreaking ‘12 Angry cellos’ programme devised around the music of Brett Dean for Sydney Festival, earned Cohen the Robert Helpmann Award for ‘Best Classical Concert Presentation’. The concert was later presented in the UK at the Salisbury Festival.

A ‘Who’s Who’ ‘High Flyer’ (2005), and past winner of the Unesco International Competition and Young Concert Artists International Competition New York, Robert Cohen has consolidated the early success of his Elgar with an impressive and eclectic discography encompassing all the major concertos for labels such as Decca, EMI and CBS. His chamber music recordings range from the complete solo suites of JS Bach and Benjamin Britten to a Deutsche Grammophon recording of the Schubert Quintet with the Amadeus Quartet, and a set of the complete Dvorak Piano Trios performed by The Cohen Trio.

Chamber music, indeed, remains central to his music-making. He has curated special series for Festivals such as City of London and Bath, and for nearly twenty years has been Artistic Director of the Charleston Manor Festival, a summer haven attracting artists from all around the globe, dedicated to the creation of illuminating imaginative recitals in the peace of the Sussex countryside. Recent themes have included ‘Shostakovich and Akhmatova’, as well as a cycle of the complete Brahms Piano Quartets. Masterclasses feature too, allowing Cohen to impart his insights and enthusiasms, his experience and flair for consummating a rapport with students and audiences alike.


Robert Cohen is a Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music, and Professor of Advanced Cello at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiano in Lugano. he is also a leading figure in the evolution of the Norbert Brainin Foundation and its exciting flagship ‘Camerata Asolo’ situated in the historic hillside town of Asolo north of Venice. The ‘Camerata’ is a place where top musicians can record, film and document (with the most advanced technology), rehearsals, concerts, lessons, discussions and all matters connected with classical music. This archive of material will be accessed through a sophisticated internet web site and open to all. There will also be a small school for exceptional students running throughout six months of the year, culminating in a festival in the spring, which will provide a showcase for all the special activities that have been generated throughout the year.

Recent far-flung engagements have taken Cohen from Malaysia (the Britten Cello Symphony) to Finland (the Brahms Double Concerto with the Helsinki Philharmonic), serving as a Juror on the 2006 Yehudi Menuhin Competition to performances of the Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Future plans include return performances with the RPO and Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and a ground breaking series of podcasts entitled ‘Conversations’ in which Cohen will talk with leading figures in the arts, politics and business.

Whether as performer or educator, Robert Cohen remains an artist rooted in tradition, fuelled by curiosity and driven by passion. As HK Gruber remarked at the time of the recording of his cello Concerto: “ The ideal partner for a composer is an interpreter who not only plays what’s indicated, but also discovers what is meant ... such a musician one normally finds in a composer’s dream. Only a few of them one finds in reality, and providing one has the privilege to work with such a musician one experiences that composing makes sense. One of these big, rare and lucky chances of mine and my Cello Concerto’s life is Robert Cohen”.