Jim Fagan
From New York’s Carnegie Hall and famous concert venues in Paris, London and various parts of the world to the Cooroy Memorial Hall may seem a bit of a free fall but internationally acclaimed violinist and conductor Daniel Kossov doesn’t think so.
“Music is music. The best thing is not where you play but the people that you play with and that you share with,” he told Noosa Today.
“I’m always happy to meet new people and make music. It really doesn’t matter where it is. The audience is the same. They come for the experience. They come to feel something they have known before.”
Daniel has accepted an invitation from Janet Brewer, leader of Pacific Chamber Players, to appear with the Sunshine Coast group in its next concert, Lighter Shades, at Cooroy on Sunday, August 11.
“I heard he was staying in Coolum for a sea change and we are thrilled he will be with us,” she said.
Daniel (47) was born in Russia and when he was two his parents emigrated to Israel.
“My mum tells me that when I was five, I said: “You two play the piano and I have to do something different. I choose the violin.”
At 17 he left Israel to study overseas and is a graduate of the prestigious Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Studies completed in 2001, he was offered a job as concertmaster at the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, based in Perth.
“A headline in a newspaper there said I was youngest concertmaster in Australian history, or something like that. It was a good selling point.”
Two years later he was awarded the Centenary Medal for Advancements in the Arts in recognition of his artistic contributions to the community.
“When I arrived in Perth, I didn’t say no to anything so if anyone wanted a lesson, a concert, a lecture, presentation or anything in schools or community centres. I said yes and did everything I could.”
When did he first think about being a conductor?
“While I was in college in America. Students conducted a special orchestra, putting into practice everything they had learned during the week. I was often the leader of the orchestra. I learned a lot about not just conducting but music in general.
“It was then my brain was turned from what my conductor-teacher called a “one line player in an orchestra” into a more aware musician.
“In 2004, while I was in Perth, a friend of mine asked if I had ever tried conducting. I said, ‘Not really’ and he said, ‘Why don’t you come with me to Finland to learn conducting from Jorma Panula?’ I learned later he was the godfather of conducting who taught most of the people with conducting careers around the world.
“I also did a few projects with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra between 2014 and 2017. At first, I auditioned with a number of other young conductors and then I suddenly got a call that someone had cancelled and could I conduct Stravinsky’s Firebird ballet the next day.
“Of course, you never say no so I started studying. Must have been OK cause they kept engaging me from then on.
“I then lived in Hobart for a few years because I had a position with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and after that some more playing, conducting and teaching throughout Asia, Europe and back in Israel.”
The Pacific Players’ Lighter Shades program will include Strauss’ Blue Danube waltz, movements from Mozart’s clarinet concerto and Martinu’s Kitchen Suite, Gershwin’s Someone to Watch Over Me and Piazzolla’s Lieber Tango. Daniel will feature with the Recitativo-Fantasia of César Franck’s Violin Sonata in A Major. He will be accompanied by Janet Brewer.
The concert is 2.30pm at Cooroy Memorial Hall, Sunday 11 August. Tickets are available online at pacificchamberplayers.com or cash at the door. Adults $35, concession $32, school students $12.
