Isidore Cohen

Biography

Isidore Cohen (December 16, 1922 in Brooklyn, New York – June 23, 2005 in Bronx, New York) was a renowned chamber musician and violinist and member, at different times, of both the Juilliard String Quartet and the Beaux Arts Trio. Cohen began studying violin at age six, and graduated from the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan, although his intention was to become a doctor. His pre-med studies at Brooklyn College were interrupted by serving in Europe with the U.S. Army during World War II. From there on, his career focus changed as he decided he'd rather touch people's lives through music. Upon returning to civilian life, he became a student of Ivan Galamian at Juilliard. Galamian had misgivings about accepting a 24-year-old student, but wanted to help a war veteran. From there, his life as a musician started to blossom, even drawing the attention of Igor Stravinsky with his performance of Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat. He became well known for his attention given to modern composers, and notably worked closely on many pieces with John Cage. As of the 1950s, Cohen was serving as the concertmaster of the orchestras at the Casals festivals in France and Puerto Rico, in addition to several ensembles in New York City including the Colombia symphony orchestra. He was frequently concertmaster for Leonard Bernstein's televised "Young People's Concerts". His performance as concertmaster under Stravinsky's baton of "The Rite of Spring" is one of those preserved on the gold album carried by the Voyager spacecraft. In 1952 Alexander Schneider invited Cohen to join his quartet as second violinist. During Cohen's tenure, the Schneider quartet recorded the first complete set of Joseph Haydn's string quartets, a milestone noted in Time magazine. Beginning in 1958, Cohen became second violinist of the Juilliard String Quartet, a post he held for nearly a decade. As a member of the quartet, Cohen also served on faculty at Juilliard from 1958 to 1966. In 1968, following

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