Matthew Cohen
American violist Matthew Cohen is a dynamic and versatile artist whose captivating performances have made him one of the most sought-after violists of his generation. A recipient of numerous accolades and prizes, he has been awarded the 2018 Center for Musical Excellence International Performing Arts Grant, 2018 Art of Duo International Competition, top prizes at the 2018 Art of Duo: Boulder International Chamber Music Competition, 2016 Citta di Cremona International Viola Competition in Cremona, Italy, 2016 Juilliard Concerto Competition, , 2015 Vivo International Music Competition and the “Best Performance of Commissioned Work” prize at the 2014 Primrose International Viola Competition. He has concertized as a soloist and chamber musician throughout North America and Europe in venues such as Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the Ford Amphitheater and Broad Stage in California, the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Oregon, Gstaad Menuhin Festival in Switzerland and the Casa della Musica in Cosenza, Italy. His first performance in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium was at the age of 15 as a soloist in the New York premiere of Tomas Svoboda’s Sonata No. 2 for orchestra and solo string quartet, a work performed and commissioned by the Portland Youth Philharmonic. He returned to Carnegie Hall in January, 2016 to perform York Bowen’s Phantasy for viola and piano in Weill Recital Hall.
Recent solo engagements include his European debut performing Hummel’s Potpourri with the Gstaad Festival Orchestra and Bartok’s Viola Concerto with the I Virtuosi Italiani orchestra in Cremona, and presenting the world premiere of internationally recognized video game score composer Garry Schyman’s viola concerto “Zingaro” with the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony.Past appearances include concerti with ensembles such as the North Shore Symphony Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, Colburn Orchestra, Oregon Sinfonietta, and Oregon Symphony/Oregon Ballet Theater.
Related Events
February 6-7, April 26, 2026
Soprano Mikaela Bennett joins forces with the Metropolis with works by Molly Joyce and Sarah Kirkland Snider.
October 28–31, 2025
Presenting newly commissioned with BalletCollective’s 2025 developing choreographers.
June 7, 2025
Presenting World Premiere works by University of Buffalo artists at Silo City, celebrating the festival’s 50th anniversary.
January 16—19, 2025
Director Mary Birnbaum and music director Andrew Cyr present Christopher Cerrone and Stephanie Fleischmann’s haunting new opera at Prototype Festival.
November 1–2, 2024
Paula Matthusen’s expansive, twenty-four hour, multi-tiered space for sonic engagement and reflection presented at Wesleyan University.
September 27, 2024
Join Ricardo Romaneiro, Andrew Cyr, and Neil Carty to discover how Liquidverse came to life in Shared Reality.
August 31—September 29, 2024
Discover an immersive soundtrack across New York City’s neighborhoods.
June 20, 2024
Experience the summer solstice in a kaleidoscope of sound and ecstatic music. Featuring Metropolis Ensemble, Sandbox Percussion, and Erik Hall.
Now Playing
Composer Ricardo Romaneiro’s immersive audiovisual symphony with Metropolis Ensemble at Cosm, the world’s first 87-foot diameter 12K LED dome in Los Angeles.
April 2–5, 2024
A genre-bending orchestral collab with singer-songwriter Caroline Rose at Brooklyn Steel in Williamsburg and BOMBYX in Northampton.
June 10—24, 2023
New music in new places that celebrate our city’s diverse neighborhoods.
May 6, 2023
Choose your own sonic adventure with Metropolis and Kaufman Music Center’s teen new music program.
February 14, 2023
Join us for the digital premiere of Life Returns, our March 2022 concert at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
February 11-12, 2023
An audiovisual tapestry and lighting installation at Brooklyn Botanic Garden running in sync with plant-generated binaural soundscapes and live musicians.
December 16-17, 2022
Celebrate the holidays with Brooklyn Youth Chorus at the Cathedral of St. Joseph with special appearances by Metropolis.
November 14, 2022
The Mivos Quartet performs new and recent works by Brown, Haven, and Mumford.
October 21, 2022
A Memorial Tribute to late American composer Ingram Marshall featuring Metropolis artists at The Greene Space and live on WNYC.
June 11, 2022
Larger-than-life bird stilt walkers and bird puppets dance to processional music in Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
May 28, 2022
Adrianne Munden-Dixon, violin, and Carrie Frey, viola, team up for a performance of solos and duos.
May 15–June 21, 2022
Discover our five-week series of free pop-up concerts at dozens of plazas, squares, parks, and open-streets.
May 14, 2022
90+ musicians perform new flexible, open-score pieces at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, inspired by nature’s musicians: birds.
March 27, 2022
Musicians from PinkNoise Ensemble explore music that pushes the sound world of each instrument, including two World Premiere performances from Mert Morali and Jen Baker.
March 24, 2022
An evening-length composition at The Met drawing on African American, South Indian, and European musical practices.
February 6th, 2022
Claire Dickson's album release celebration, with Grey Mcmurray and Lesley Mok
Starland is Claire Dickson's debut album as a solo artist and producer, created on a tall ship in the Arctic Circle and in her Brooklyn apartment. With guitarist Grey Mcmurray and drummer Lesley Mok, this music comes alive with added spontaneity and imagination.
January 30th, 2022
Exceptet presents new experimental material, including the World Premiere of a new work by Rome Prize-winning composer Katherine Balch commissioned for Exceptet by the Barlow Endowment. Quartet121 opens up each set.
December 18th, 2021
Celebrate the holidays with Brooklyn Youth Chorus at the beautiful Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, with a stirring and dynamic concert of contemporary music and holiday classics, featuring students from our Teen division and acclaimed performing ensembles, with special appearances by members of the Grammy-nominated orchestra collective Metropolis Ensemble.
Join Brooklyn Youth Chorus to start the holidays and leave full of the spirit of the season.
December 14th, 2021
Erika Dohi and Lauren Cauley co-present two intimate sets of reflective, electro-acoustic experimentation. Featuring Dohi performing songs on keyboards and synths from her latest album I, Castorpollux, out now on 37d03d, and new works by Cauley for prepared violin and electronics.
Craft cocktails and other surprises await.