Jeremy Cohen

Jeremy Cohen’s electrifying jazz violin performances have earned him nationwide accolades. Classically-trained and a student of Itzhak Perlman and Anne Crowden, Cohen’s eclectic style reflects his respect for a wide range of violinists from Perlman and Fritz Kreisler to Joe Venuti and Eddie South. Cohen has performed as soloist with numerous orchestras including the Virginia Symphony, the California Symphony, the Oakland East Bay Symphony, and the Reno Philharmonic. His recording credits include motion picture and television soundtracks including The Dukes of Hazzard and Jane Fonda’s Dollmaker, and as concertmaster on recordings with Linda Ronstadt, Ray Charles, Aaron Neville, Howard Keel and Cleo Laine. He appeared on Carlos Santana’s Grammy-winning CD Supernatural, Santana’s Shaman, and the original Star Wars compilation CD with John Williams. On the stage he was the solo violinist in San Francisco’s two-year production of Forever Tango and toured nationally with the Broadway production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. He has toured and recorded with the Turtle Island String Quartet. Jeremy Cohen is the founder of the pioneering string group, Quartet San Francisco, and has toured extensively with the group throughout the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea since 2001. Quartet San Francisco was awarded the Grand Prize in the First International Tango Competition at the Argentine Consulate in New York in 2004. QSF’s four CDs have garnered seven Grammy nominations since 2006 in the categories of Best Classical Crossover, Best Engineered Classical, and Best Instrumental Composition. Cohen composes and arranges for the group and is in demand as a composer/arranger for other ensembles as well, including the Marin Symphony, the Sun Valley Music Festival Bronfman Chamber Music Series, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, the San Francisco Bay Area’s Peninsula Symphony, the Reading Philharmonic, the Reno Philharmonic, the Del Sol String Quartet, and the Bridge Virtuosi. Two recent seasons of the San Francisco Symphony included arrangements by Cohen. A faculty member of the Henry Mancini Institute (Los Angeles) from 1997 until its closure in 2006, and The Jazzschool in Berkeley (now know as the California Jazz Conservatory) since 2004, Cohen also taught for six years at the Stanford Jazz Workshop. He has recorded three CDs with his “ViolinJazz” quartet on the Violinjazz Recordings (Violinjazz and A Taste of Violinjazz) and Dorian Sono Luminus labels (The Music of Eddie South). In 2004 he released Jeremy Cohen and Friends Celebrate Joe Venuti –100 Years, his DVD tribute to the great jazz violinist. Cohen publishes original works and arrangements for string players on his Violinjazz Publications imprint, many of which are accompanied by CDs and YouTube videos.